


Nothing To Lose

by JTxBojan



Category: One Direction, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Chaptered, First Time, M/M, request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-21
Updated: 2012-10-21
Packaged: 2017-11-16 18:56:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/542751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JTxBojan/pseuds/JTxBojan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis was forced by his mates to enter a dating website on where he met Harry. They talk for a while on the phone before Louis ends up visiting Harry without notice and what do you know, love starts to bloom...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This particular plot was requested by an anon on Tumblr and though I had originally planned for it to be a one-shot, it ended up being a 11 chapters + epilogue work. My so far one and only multi-chaptered Larry Stylinson fanfiction. Re-posted from my Tumblr.
> 
> PS: The ratings wary from pretty much everything from GA to Explicit, all depending on the chapter.

"This is fucking ridiculous." Louis groaned, pacing back and forth behind his three friends, who were all seated in front of his computer in his bedroom. 

“Would you stop whining and let us work?” Zayn asked, continuing to click around on the website, Niall and Liam eagerly leaning forward and watching the screen.

“Why are we even doing this? I’ve told you guys before that I don’t need to sign up for a stupid dating website!” Louis complained, which made Niall turn his head and raise an eyebrow at him.

“When was the last time you got laid?” The Irishman asked, his words causing Zayn and Liam to turn their heads to look at Louis questioningly too. 

Louis huffed. It had been quite a while since he last got lucky, but that didn’t mean that he was so desperate that he needed his friends to sign him up on a dating website. He would find the right guy in his own damn time – he didn’t need some stupid online service to do it for him.

“That’s beside the point…” 

“How long, Louis?” Niall pressed, bluntly ignoring Louis’ comment. 

Louis sighed.

“Fourteen months.” He responded rather quietly.

“And that, mate, is exactly why we’re doing this.” Liam said as all three of them turned back to the computer screen, clicking away on the mouse.

Louis groaned and walked over to his bed, falling down on his back onto it and closing his eyes. 

Sure, it had been a long time since he last got laid, but he still didn’t like the idea of having some random website finding someone for him just so he could satisfy that need. His three best friends seemed to have other ideas, though, and had insisted on creating a profile for Louis on an online dating site, despite the fact that Louis had refused.

“What’s your favourite colour?” Zayn suddenly asked.

“Green.” Louis responded in an almost defeated manner, having decided that he wasn’t going to answer any questions his friends would ask him in hopes that it would make them give up on signing him up for the dating site, but having realised that they weren’t going to give up for anything, Louis had decided to give in himself.

“Interests?” The question came from Liam.

“Music and football.” Louis replied.

“Music, football and shagging…” Liam mumbled as he filled out the ‘Interests’ box, making Zayn and Niall chuckle.

“You didn’t actually type that, did you?” Louis asked, lifting his head from the pillow and looking over at his friends suspiciously. Liam turned his head and looked at Louis over his shoulder.

“Of course I didn’t.” He said, but there was something in his eyes that made Louis understand straight away that Liam had, in fact, typed exactly what he had said. 

Louis shook his head before letting his head fall back against the pillow and closed his eyes. 

“What are you looking for?” Zayn asked.

“Nothing.” Louis muttered in response. Zayn rolled his eyes at Louis’ response.

“Okay. And now we answer the question like a big boy.” He teased, and his tone and words made Louis frown.

“I don’t know what I’m looking for. You three are the ones who decided I needed to get signed up on a dating site, so you figure out what it is I’m looking for.” Louis reasoned, much to Zayn’s satisfaction.

“Alright!” He said, almost a little too enthusiastically as he clicked on the scroll-down tab and choose that Louis was looking for a relationship. 

Louis shook his head to himself and zoned out for a moment, blocking out the sounds of Liam, Niall and Zayn talking, typing and clicking and just disappeared in his own thoughts for a moment. 

He didn’t understand why his friends insisted on signing him up for a dating website. So what if he hadn’t gotten laid in fourteen months? So what if he hadn’t even been out on a date since then? That was and would be his problem, and he would deal with it in his own way, in his own time. He didn’t need to use such desperate measures to get himself a date, at least not yet. But his mates had insisted and when the three of them teamed up like that, Louis didn’t really have a chance to protest.

Louis must have drifted off for a while because when he opened his eyes again, his mates had left.

“Thanks for saying goodbye…” Louis mumbled to himself as he got up from his bed and walked over to his computer, which his mates had left turned on. Yawning, Louis grabbed the mouse and moved it around for a moment, noticing that the dating website was up and his mates had conveniently enough left it open on the profile they had created for him.

Groaning, Louis looked at the profile.

“At least they picked a nice photo of me…” He mumbled as he started to scroll down the page, reading the different questionnaires Liam, Zayn and Niall had filled in for him.

_Name: Louis  
Age: 20  
Gender: Male  
Location: Doncaster  
Hair colour: Brown  
Eye colour: Blue  
Height: 175cm  
Interested in: Men  
Looking for: Dating, a relationship  
Interests: Music, football and shagging  
Additional information: Would really like to meet someone who can make me smile, laugh, who I can enjoy spending time with and someone who likes passionate love-making ;)_

Louis groaned and rolled his eyes as he read the words Zayn had undoubtedly typed in.

“Thanks, knobhead…” Louis muttered under his breath and studied the profile sceptically for a long moment.

“Fuck this, I’m deleting it.” Louis then concluded and moved the mouse up to the “Settings” tab, clicking it. Just as the page with the different changes he could make to his profile appeared, the small envelope at the top left corner of the site, most likely representing some kind of inbox, changed from being white to light blue, signalising that Louis had gotten a new message.

Biting his lip, Louis continued to stare sceptically at the screen for a long moment, the mouse hovering above the “Deactivate account” button. 

He didn’t need this profile, nor did he want it, but the small, light blue envelope at the top left corner of the screen evoked a certain amount of curiosity in Louis. Had someone already checked out his profile? Did someone really want to contact him? Who was it from?

The questions repeated themselves over and over again in Louis’ mind, and eventually his curiosity got the better of him and he moved the mouse up to the envelope. His heart was beating twice as fast as usual as he clicked it and his inbox popped up on the screen.

Looking at the new message, he said that it was from a guy named Harry. Biting his lip, Louis clicked on the message to open it.

“ _Your profile really caught my attention. You seem interesting. Let me know if you’d like to chat sometime._

_\- Harry_

_PS; nice picture ;)_ ”

Louis couldn’t help the small smile that spread across his lips as he read the message from this ‘Harry’ guy. Once again letting his curiosity get the better of him, Louis clicked on Harry’s name and watched as his profile popped up.

As Louis saw an enlarged version of Harry’s profile picture, his heart skipped a beat in his chest. Harry had gorgeous brown curls and beautiful green eyes. His smile sent a slight tingle down Louis’ spine and the guy was all in all one of the most gorgeous people Louis had ever seen. 

Seriously interested now, Louis read Harry’s profile.

_Name: Harry  
Age: 18  
Gender: Male  
Location: Cheshire  
Hair colour: Brown  
Eye colour: Green  
Height: 178cm  
Interested in: Men  
Looking for: Dating, a relationship  
Interests: Music and football  
Additional information: Just a regular guy from Cheshire. Love meeting new people. _

Louis’ interest grew bigger and bigger with every word he read, and he decided that he would give this whole online dating service one chance.

Going back to his inbox, Louis opened Harry’s message again, clicked “Reply” and started typing a response.

“ _Hey Harry. You seem quite interesting yourself. I’d love to chat sometime. Oh, and yours isn’t so bad either ;)_

 _\- Louis_ ”

Re-reading the message several times, Louis finally took a deep breath and clicked the “Send” button, watching as the “ _Your message was sent successfully_ ” message appeared on the screen.

“Well, I’ve got nothing to lose.” Louis said to himself before closing the browser and turning off his computer. 

It was getting late and Louis had work early in the morning, so staying up all night to wait for a reply from Harry wasn’t an option. _Not that he would have done that if he could, anyway…_

As he got up from his chair, Louis got undressed on his way over to his bed, leaving only his boxers on as he crawled under the covers, reaching out and flicking off the light switch right by his bed before letting his head fall back against the pillow.

He felt kind of stupid for not having deactivated his account, but he’d live with it. After all, it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try. If he was being honest with himself, Louis was kind of tired of being single. That didn’t mean he believed the dating site would help him change that, but at least it was worth a shot. He could always deactivate the account later if it got too stupid.

Louis closed his eyes and prepared himself to fall asleep. But before he went into dreamland, he couldn’t help the beautiful, curly-haired face of Harry that appeared in his mind as his last thought before he drifted off…


	2. Chapter 2

“And if you have any questions or need any help with setting everything up, don’t hesitate to call.” Louis said with a smile as he handed the man his receipt.

“Thank you, I will.” The man replied, picking up the box with the DVD-player he had just bought from the counter.

“Have a nice day.” Louis said as the man headed out of the electronic store he worked at.

“You too!” The man called back before he disappeared out through the doors. 

Louis had been working at the electronic store for about two years now, and he loved it there. His colleagues were great and despite the fact that his bitch of a boss had a tendency to give him the worst possible hours to work, which were usually the night shifts, the job paid well and it gave Louis an excuse to get out of the house sometimes. His friend Zayn also worked at the store, and that alone made the whole experience a lot more fun.

“So how’s everything going with your mystery online lover?” Zayn’s voice came from behind Louis, making him jump slightly in surprise.

“He’s not my mystery online lover.” Louis said as he rolled his eyes, his reaction causing a big grin to spread across Zayn’s face.

Zayn was referring to Harry. Louis had told Zayn, Liam and Niall that a guy had messaged him the day after he had gotten the message from Harry, and that was about a week ago now. The two of them had been talking pretty much non-stop online since then, and it already felt like Louis had known Harry forever. 

He’d learned that Harry’s parents were divorced, and that he didn’t have much contact with his dad. He had an older sister – Gemma – and his mother’s name was Anne. He had also found out that the last relationship Harry was in ended over a year ago because the guy he was with cheated on him and he hadn’t been involved with anyone since.

He supported Liverpool – which was kind of a let-down, seeing Louis himself supported Manchester United – but it had also allowed them to have quite a few interesting discussions about football. Harry worked at a football supporter shop in Cheshire and liked it there. He also really liked singing, and he knew how to play the guitar.

Louis felt like Harry was the kind of guy he could talk to about anything, and the fact that Harry was absolutely gorgeous wasn’t exactly a downside. 

His friends, especially Zayn, had been almost obsessed with asking Louis question about his “mystery online lover”, as they called him, but Louis hadn’t even told them Harry’s name. He knew that if he did, his mates would do whatever they could to track Harry down and make a complete and utter fool out of Louis, even though Louis knew that they really meant well. So he had only told them a guy had messaged him and told them that he was quite good-looking when they had asked. Everything else he had kept to himself.

“Oh, sure he is. You go all red every time we mention him.” Zayn said with a wink, making Louis groan.

“I do not.” Louis protested, despite the fact that he could feel his cheeks getting slightly warmer.

“You do! You’re doing it right now! You so like him!” Zayn teased and Louis turned away in annoyance, starting to type away on the computer in front of him just so he wouldn’t have to look at Zayn.

“Shut up.” He muttered, much to Zayn’s satisfaction as he took that as Louis admitted that he did, in fact, like his “mystery online lover”. 

“Can you at least tell me his name?” Zayn questioned as he moved to lean against the counter next to the computer, not giving Louis the option to ignore him.

Louis sighed, looking up from the computer screen and instead focusing his attention on Zayn.

“Do you promise you won’t go out of your way to track him down and make a fool out of me?” Louis wanted to know.

“You really think I would do that?” Zayn wanted to know, sounding almost a little offended by Louis’ words.

“I _know_ you would do that if I don’t get to promise you won’t.” Louis replied, and Zayn frowned.

“Fine. I promise.” He said, crossing his heart to show Louis he was serious. Louis nodded.

“His name is Harry.” 

Zayn’s face then broke out into a massive grin.

“Ohhh, Harry and Louis! I like the sound of that!” Zayn exclaimed, a little too enthusiastically and Louis momentarily regretted telling him Harry’s name.

Louis was about to say something when another voice caught his attention.

“Excuse me, could one of you lovely young men help me?” An old woman asked, walking up to the counter.

“Of course. How may we help you?” Louis asked with a smile, just as the woman reached the counter.

“You see, my grandchildren have been nagging me for years about getting myself a new mobile phone, but I have never seen the point in getting one. But now mine no longer works and I guess I have no choice but to get a new one, but I am not good with these things, so I was hoping you could give me some help choosing one that’s not too complicated?” The lady asked.

“Sure I can.” Louis replied, turning around and walking around the counter.

“Doesn’t your break start now, Lou?” Zayn then asked, and Louis had to check the watch on his wrist.

“Oh yeah, it does. Would you mind?” Louis asked, and Zayn shook his head.

“Not at all.” He said as he followed Louis around the counter and stopped next to the old lady. “Come on, beautiful, let’s go find you a phone.” 

The old woman laughed and turned slightly red at Zayn’s words, wrapping her arm around Zayn’s.

“Oh, you are just so sweet.” She said as Zayn slowly started leading her towards the cell phones.

Louis chuckled to himself, shaking his head as he watched the two of them. Zayn was always such a charmer, no matter who he was talking to. Turning around, Louis headed through the store and into the break room at the back of the store, closing the door behind him and walking over to one of the big couches there. Falling down onto it, Louis pulled his phone out of his pants pocket and checked if he had gotten any new messages. He hadn’t.

Leaning back, Louis almost absentmindedly opened an internet browser and typed in the address to the dating website, not needing to log in as he had already made his phone remember his log-in details.

As he let his eyes study the small screen, he noticed that the small envelope in the top corner was light blue, meaning he had a new message. Biting his lip, Louis’ heart started to pound faster in his chest as he clicked on the envelope, watching as his inbox appeared. His heartbeats quickened even more when he saw he had gotten another message from Harry. Louis bit his lip again as he opened it. 

“ _Hey Louis. I was thinking – I’m not really a big fan of talking to people online._ ”

Louis’ heart stopped for a moment at that, slight panic spreading through his body as his brain almost instantly convinced that Harry was going to say he didn’t want to talk to him anymore. Louis continued reading.

“ _So I was thinking I could give you my phone number and then you could call me sometime? I really want to hear your voice._

 _\- Harry xxx_ ”

As he read the rest of the message, Louis’ heartbeat slowed down slightly as he realised Harry wasn’t telling him he didn’t want to talk to him anymore – it was quite the opposite. This was also the first time Harry had used x’s at the end of his message, which made Louis unable to hold back the small smile that spread across his lips.

Louis looked at the phone number Harry had written in the message and took a deep breath. The thought of finally getting to hear Harry’s voice was exciting, at the same time as it was kind of intimidating. Talking on the phone was a lot more personal than talking online through some dating website, and Louis had never been a very good at talking on the phone, unless he was talking to people he had known for ages. But then again, he did feel like he had known Harry for years, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. That didn’t change the fact that he was still nervous, though.

Nevertheless, Louis marked off the phone number and copied it before he exited the internet browser on his phone, opened the dialler and pasted the number, saving the number as “Harry”. He considered pressing the “Call” button, but decided against it, not wanting to call Harry while he was at work in case he would have to suddenly hang up. 

With another deep breath, Louis put his phone back in his pocket and got up from the couch, walked over to the coffee machine and filled a cup, drinking it quickly before heading back out into the store. He would call Harry after work – if he could find the nerves to it.

The last few hours of Louis’ shift passed by quickly and by the time he locked himself out and said goodbye to Zayn, the message Harry had sent him suddenly came shooting back into his mind. 

“I’ll call him on the bus.” Louis mumbled to himself as he headed down the street towards the nearest bus stop.

Louis had a car, but there had been something wrong with the breaks, so he had to send it in to get it fixed, meaning he now had to take the bus. As he headed towards the bus stop, he saw that the bus was already nearly there.

“Oh shit.” Louis exclaimed as he broke out into a sprint, running as fast as he could possibly manage to reach the bus stop in time. He made it just in time as the bus was coming to a stop and he practically jumped through the open door.

“Wow, easy lad. Don’t hurt yourself.” Danny, the bus driver said with a smile, which Louis returned.

“I won’t.” He grinned, handing Danny some money. “You know where I’m going.” 

“Sure do, Louis.” Danny replied as he handed Louis his receipt. Louis took it with a smile and headed towards the back of the bus. It was almost midnight, and at this hour the bus was completely empty. Taking a seat at the second row from the back, Louis leaned back in his seat and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

As the bus started driving down the street, Louis found Harry’s number and just stared at it for a moment.

“Don’t be a chicken now, Louis. You’ve got nothing to lose, remember?” Louis mumbled to himself, closing his eyes as he pressed the “Call” button. Taking a deep breath, Louis raised his right hand, holding the phone to his right ear and waiting for it to ring.

It rang once. Twice. Three times. Four…

“ _Hello?_ ” 

The sound of the other voice made Louis jump slightly and sit up straight in his seat. The voice was quite possibly the most gorgeous voice Louis had ever heard and just the sound of it sent a slight tingle down Louis’ spine.

“Hi. Is this Harry?” Louis asked, surprised that his voice wasn’t shaking as he spoke.

“ _Yes. Who’s this?_ ” Harry wanted to know.

“It’s Louis.” 

The line went quiet for a moment and Louis’ heart skipped a beat as he waited for Harry to speak again.

“ _Louis? Oh, uhm… Hi._ ”

Louis bit his lip. Did Harry sound… Nervous?

“Hi. I’m sorry, I hope I’m not calling too late or anything…”

“ _No, no, not at all. I’m glad you called._ ” There was a slight pause. “ _How are you?_ ”

“I’m good, a little tired as I just got off work. How are you, Harry?” Louis asked, leaning back in his seat again and looking out the window, his heart pounding twice as fast as usual in his chest.

“ _Yeah? How was work? I’m good too, thanks._ ”

“It was alright. One of my mates wouldn’t stop nagging me about you, though.” Louis said without really thinking before speaking and he bit his own lip the second those words had left his mouth.

_Shit._

Harry went quiet for a moment.

“ _No? Why’s that?_ ” Harry asked, and there was a slight hint of a smile in his voice as he spoke and Louis couldn’t hold back a small smile of his own.

“He’s been excited ever since I told him someone had messaged me on the website. He’s really keen on me meeting someone new.” Louis explained, watching as the bus drove past houses and trees on its way.

Harry chuckled, and the sound of it sent another tingle down Louis’ spine.

“ _And he thinks that someone is me?_ ” Harry asked.

“Yeah. He even calls you my mystery online lover.” Louis replied with a laugh, which in return caused another chuckle to escape from Harry’s end of the line.

“ _He does? Well, that’s not so bad._ ”

“It’s not?” Louis asked, biting his lip as he waited to Harry’s reply.

“ _No. Not at all._ ” 

The sound of Harry’s voice made Louis bite his lip harder. He could have sworn that there was a slight flirtatious tone as Harry spoke.

The line went silent for a while, neither man really knowing what to say. Just as Louis was about to say something, the bust came to a stop at his bus stop, which conveniently enough was right outside Louis’ apartment building.

“Give me a second.” Louis said into the phone as he got up and made his way off the bus, giving Danny a wave as he passed him. Harry waited patiently for Louis to speak again.

“Sorry, just had to get off the bus.” Louis explained as he made his way up to the apartment building, pulling out his key from his pocket on his way there.

“ _I thought you drove?_ ” Harry questioned.

“I do, but there was something wrong with the breaks on my car, so I had to send it in to get it fixed. Now I’m stuck taking the bus until I get my car back.” Louis said as he unlocked the door, opening it and stepping inside, waiting until he heard the door close and the lock click behind him before heading towards the stairs.

“ _Oh, that sucks. When do you get it back?_ ” Harry wanted to know.

“In about a week, I think.” Louis said as he walked up the two flights of stairs to his floor, two steps at the time.

“ _Well, that’s not so bad._ ” Harry said, and Louis could hear that the faint smile was back as Harry spoke.

“You’re right.” Louis said, smiling as he walked down the hallway to his apartment door. “I should probably hang up. My mother is spending the night at my place because my apartment is closer to her work and she needs to get up at 4am. And I’m pretty sure she’s asleep already, and she wakes up pretty easily.” Louis explained, leaning against the wall by the door leading into his apartment.

Louis heard Harry let out a small sigh, almost as if he didn’t want Louis to hang up before he replied.

“ _Yeah, okay. I should get some sleep. I’m working the early shift tomorrow._ ” He said and Louis nodded to himself.

“Alright. Hey, if you want, I can call you tomorrow?” Louis asked almost shyly, using one hand to tug nervously at his own shirt. It took a moment before Harry replied.

“ _I’d like that._ ” He said simply, and Louis couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face at Harry’s words and the tone of his voice. He sounded happy, and almost a little relieved. 

“Good. I’ll call you tomorrow then.” Louis said.

“ _I’ll be looking forward to your call. Night Louis._ ” 

“Night Harry.” 

With that, Louis ended the call and put his phone back in his pocket, letting his head fall back to rest against the wall and closing his eyes. His heart was working overtime and the sound of Harry’s beautiful voice was ringing in Louis’ head. 

Louis took a deep breath before he pushed himself away from the wall and unlocked the door to his apartment, quietly making his way inside and closing and locking the door behind him. Quickly taking off his shoes, Louis slowly walked down the hallway and towards his bedroom, stopping outside the guest room his mother was sleeping in and listening. He could hear her deep breathing through the door and smiled to himself before he continued down the hallway and into his bedroom, closing the door behind himself.

As he got undressed and got into his double-bed, Louis couldn’t keep himself from smiling. Harry’s voice was still echoing in his head as he closed his eyes and his body was tingling all over. And as he started to fall asleep, Louis thought to himself that tomorrow really couldn’t come soon enough.


	3. Chapter 3

“What are you looking at?” 

Harry jumped slightly at the sound of his co-worker Matt’s voice, looking up from his phone and meeting Matt’s gaze.

“Nothing…” Harry said, letting out a soft, disappointed sigh as he checked his phone for the 9th time that day. 

It had been almost a week since Louis had first called him, and he had called him at around 12pm every day since because he had been working the late shifts every day lately and he was usually so exhausted by the time he got home that he didn’t have the energy to call anyone. So the two of them had made it kind of their thing that they talked on the phone at midday, and then texted each other throughout the rest of the day. However, now it was 1:35pm and Louis still hadn’t called, even though he had said he would last night. Nor had Louis texted him.

“He still hasn’t called, huh?” Matt asked as he took a seat on the chair next to Harry’s by the table in the break room. Harry shook his head and continued to gaze sadly at his phone.

“No.” 

Matt sighed and reached out, putting a comforting hand on Harry’s back right between his shoulder blades.

“I’m sure he’ll call soon. He might be at work, you know.” Matt said encouragingly, making Harry sigh again and shake his head.

“No, he works the late shift this week. And his shift starts at 3 o’clock.” Harry explained. 

“Oh, I see. Well, maybe he’s just busy. I’m sure he’ll call you during his break. Or maybe after work. When does his shift end?” Matt questioned. 

“11pm. But he’ll have to lock up and everything, so usually he’s not out of there before 11:30 – 11:45.” Harry said, lifting his eyes from his phone and looking over at Matt, watching as his mate nodded his head.

“Well then, I’m sure he’ll call you. Have a bit of patience, Harry.” Matt said with a smile, patting Harry on the back.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Harry replied, giving Matt a small smile in return, even though he was still sad about the fact that he hadn’t heard from Louis yet.

It was rather pathetic, really, seeing they had only known each other for about two weeks. But Harry just couldn’t help but get butterflies in his stomach whenever Louis called or texted him, and having Louis call him was the best part of Harry’s day. And he really didn’t care how lame and cheeky that sounded. Louis made him happy, and if that meant that Harry would walk around all day, feeling like a schoolgirl with a massive crush on someone and just waiting to hear from them, then so be it. 

However, that also meant that Harry would be disappointed and sad if he didn’t hear from Louis like he usually did. And he didn’t like it very much.

“Great! Now come on, we need to get back to work.” Matt said as he stood up, and Harry nodded.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” He said, standing up as well and following Matt towards the door leading back into the supporter shop they were working at. But before Harry walked out of the door, he checked his phone one more time and let out another disappointed sigh as he hadn’t gotten any new messages or any missed calls.

“ _God, I really am pathetic._ ” Harry thought to himself and shook his head as he walked through the door and back out into the store. 

\------------

“Still nothing?” Matt asked as Harry checked his phone for what must have been the 40th time that they as they walked out of the store at the end of their shift at 6pm. Harry shook his head.

“Nope.” Harry said, giving his phone another sad glance before putting it back in his pocket as he and Matt headed towards their cars.

“He’ll call.” Matt assured him.

“Yeah…” Harry sighed as he reached his car, pulling out his keys and unlocking the doors.

“Alright mate, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Matt said, waving at Harry as he headed past Harry’s car and towards his own.

“You will. Hey, Matt?” Harry called, making Matt stop in his tracks and turn around, looking at Harry.

“Yeah mate?” 

Harry bit his lip for a moment before he spoke.

“Do you think I’m pathetic?” Harry wanted to know, sounding almost a little shy as he asked. Matt raised an eyebrow.

“Pathetic? What do you mean?” Matt questioned, and Harry took a deep breath.

“You know, for being this… Obsessed with Louis. Checking my phone all day to see if he has called or messaged me. Feeling disappointed and sad when he hasn’t. I mean, I met him online and I’ve only known him for like… Two weeks, but I just… I can’t get him out of my head.” Harry paused to breathe before he continued. “Do you think I’m pathetic?” He asked again.

Matt just smiled at him and shook his head.

“You’re not pathetic, Harry. You’re just falling for the guy.” He said simply. Harry just stood there, letting Matt’s words sink into his head.

“Bye mate.” Matt said before he turned back around and headed to his own car. Harry just stood there, completely lost in his own thoughts as he watched Matt get into his car, start the engine and drive away.

He continued to just stand there as he watched Matt’s car disappear down the street and he had to shake his head a few times before finally managing to get himself moving again.

Harry got into his car, put on his seatbelt and started the engine. As he headed home, he couldn’t help but wonder if Matt was, in fact, right. 

Was he really falling for Louis? Was he really falling for someone he had only met online two weeks ago and had never actually seen in person? Was he really falling for someone he had spoken to on the phone every day for the past week? Was that really possible? 

Harry shook his head to himself as he drove home. He didn’t know if he was falling for Louis. But he did know that he couldn’t get Louis out of his head no matter how hard he tried. And he did know, deep down inside, that he didn’t even want to try. He liked having Louis constantly in his thoughts, and he liked that Louis could make him get butterflies just by sending him a simple text. He liked that the mere sound of Louis’ voice could make his heart skip a beat in his chest, and he liked that talking to Louis was the best part of his day. But was he really, really falling for him? Now that was something Harry didn’t know.

\------------

“ _HERE’S ANOTHER SONG FOR THE RADIO!_ ” 

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Harry shouted as the sound of his extremely loud ringtone made him wake up with a violent jump, making him roll off the bed and land with a loud thud on the floor.

As his phone continued to ring to the sound of McFly’s “One For The Radio”, Harry blinked his eyes a few times, his heart pounding ten times as fast as usual in his chest because of his violent awakening in the middle of the night. 

“Fuck… Ow…” Harry groaned, reaching up and holding a hand to the back of his head as it throbbed gently from the encounter it had with the floor.

“ _Life isn’t fair for the people who care, stick your nose in the air and that’s how you go far…_ ” 

His phone continued to go off and Harry groaned again.

“Yeah, yeah, shut up.” He muttered as he scrambled himself up on his knees and reached up with his free hand, grabbing his phone from his nightstand and pressed the “Answer call” button without bothering to even check the display.

“Hello?” Harry mumbled into the phone in a tired, pained voice as he glanced over at the alarm clock on his other nightstand. It was 3:14am. Yawning, Harry leaned an elbow against the edge of his bed, shifting so that he was sitting sideways on the floor, leaning his forehead against the hand connected to the same arm as he was using to lean his elbow against his bed, the other hand holding the phone to his ear.

“ _I’m sorry, did I wake you?_ ” 

The sound of Louis’ voice instantly made Harry feel a lot more awake as his eyes opened more.

“Yeah, you did. But it’s okay.” Harry assured him. 

“ _Are you okay?_ ” Louis asked, having picked up on the slightly pained tone to Harry’s voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine. My ringtone was just really loud and it made me jump and I ended up falling out of bed and hit my head against the floor.” Harry said, and it was if he could actually hear the guilt in Louis’ voice.

“ _Oh God, Harry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to wake you and I certainly didn’t want you to hurt yourself, but I just got home and I felt so terrible for not calling you today that I just couldn’t help myself._ ” Louis explained apologetically.

“No, it’s okay.” Harry responded. He was still feeling a little upset about the fact that he hadn’t heard from Louis all day, despite the fact that he knew he was being stupid for feeling like that.

“ _No, it’s not. I woke up really late and I had to hurry out to catch the bus to pick up my car before I had to drive in a hurry to work and I managed to forget my phone at home. And then after work I had apparently promised Zayn weeks ago that I’d go out with him and a couple of our mates to celebrate one of our mates’ birthday and I was planning on not staying out late, but then I completely lost track of time and none of my mates wanted to lend me their phone unless I let them talk to you and they’d only make a complete fool out of me in front of you and I didn’t want that because I don’t want you to think I’m a complete idiot and completely stop talking to me and I only just got home and I’m just so sorry._ ” Louis rambled on, sounding like he was in some sort of panic-state and Harry couldn’t help the small smile that spread across his lips at the sound of how genuinely upset Louis sounded for not calling or texting Harry all day.

“Louis?” Harry asked.

“ _Yes?_ ”

“Breathe.” Harry said, chuckling softly at he could hear Louis take a deep breath. 

“ _I’m sorry._ ” Louis said as he finally got his breath back. 

“It’s fine. Really.” Harry assured him, and he could hear Louis let out a relieved sigh.

“ _Are you sure? Because I feel really terrible. I would’ve called you when I was out with my mates if I had remembered to bring my phone._ ” 

“Louis, it’s fine. I promise.” Harry assured him again, still smiling to himself. “Wait, you really would have called me when you were out with your mates if you had your phone with you?” Harry asked.

“ _Of course I would have. Why do you ask?_ ” Louis replied.

“I don’t know. I just… I didn’t think you’d want to call other people when you were out with your mates.” Harry said truthfully, always having been under the impression that when you’re out with your mates, you don’t call someone who is not there. At least that’s what his mates had taught him.

“ _Usually I don’t. It’s like this unspoken rule that you’re not allowed to call someone when you’re out with your mates, but they don’t have a say in whether or not I call you. I want to talk to you as much as possible, and if that means calling you when I’m out with my mates, then so be it._ ” Louis explained, simply, and Harry couldn’t stop the feeling of his heart doing a back-flip at Louis’ words.

“Is it weird that I feel kind of special now?” Harry said with a soft chuckle, biting down shyly at his own lip.

_God, he was such a schoolgirl with a massive crush when it came to Louis._

_“You are special, Harry. You’re the most special person I’ve ever met._ ” Louis said and his words sounded so honest and sincere that Harry’s heart skipped a beat in his chest.

“Are you drunk?” Harry asked, his question making Louis chuckle and the sound of Louis’ laugh sent a shiver down Harry’s spine.

“ _No. I didn’t feel like drinking tonight. I was just with them for the company._ ” Louis said truthfully and a warm feeling spread through Harry’s body as he realised that Louis was saying this because he meant it, not because he was under the influence of alcohol.

“Oh. Well, in that case, thank you. You’re the most special person I’ve ever met too.” Harry said honestly.

“ _Yeah?_ ” Louis asked.

“Yeah.” Harry repeated, nodding his head to himself. He could hear that Louis was smiling when he spoke again.

“ _I’m glad. Okay, I still feel bad for waking you and making you hit your head, so I’ll let you go back to sleep._ ” Louis said and Harry let out an almost child-like giggle.

“Okay.”

“ _Did you just **giggle**?_ ” Louis wanted to know, and there was an amused tone in his voice. Harry blushed.

“Maybe…” He answered, biting his own lower lip again.

“ _God, that’s the cutest sound I’ve ever heard._ ” Louis said, his words making Harry blush even deeper.

“Thanks.” Harry said, not really knowing what else to say to that. Nobody had ever called his giggle cute before. 

“ _Don’t thank me for being honest. Now go back to sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow._ ” Louis said, and Harry nodded his head to himself as he got up and got back into his bed.

“Promise?” Harry asked, feeling slightly silly for asking, but just kind of needing to be reassured that Louis meant it.

“ _I promise._ ” Louis swore. Harry let out a relieved sigh.

“Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow then. Goodnight, Louis.” Harry said as he laid down on his back and ran a hand through his own hair, unable to stop smiling to himself.

“ _You will. Night Harry. Sweet dreams._ ” There was a smile apparent in Louis’ voice as he spoke.

“You too.” Harry responded, and with that he hung up and put his phone back on his nightstand. 

Closing his eyes, Harry was still smiling to himself. And as he started to drift back off to sleep, there was a soft tingle running through his entire body that only Louis could evoke in him.

And in a different part of the country, in Doncaster, Louis himself was falling asleep with the biggest smile on his face as Harry was the last thing that graced his mind before he disappeared into dreamland, just like it had been ever since the first time Harry had messaged him on that dating website.


	4. Chapter 4

“Mate, are you completely sure about this?” Liam asked, watching as Louis paced back and forth in his bedroom, searching through his closet, his dressers and everywhere else.

“Positive.” Louis answered simply, slamming the drawer he had been looking through shut and turning around, heading across the room and opening his closet again.

“But shouldn’t you be giving this a bit more thought, though?” Niall shot in, looking up at Louis from the book he was reading in on his position on the floor, his back leaning against Louis’ bed.

“If I give this more thought, I’m just going to overthink the entire thing and end up chickening out of it.” Louis explained without looking at Niall, deeply occupied with searching for something in his closet, though Louis wasn’t even sure exactly what it was he was searching for. 

Liam got up from where he had been sprawled out on Louis’ bed and walked over to his mate, grabbing a hold of Louis’ shoulders and pulling him out of the closet, turning him around.

“Will you please just relax for a second then? You’re stressing me.” Liam pleaded, looking at Louis.

Louis sighed and nodded his head, taking a deep breath.

“Thank you.” Liam said as he let go of Louis’ shoulders.

Harry had messaged Louis for the first time almost three months ago now, and Louis had decided he had waited long enough. Now he was going to drive to Holmes Chapel, Cheshire and visit him before he drove himself mad with desire to actually meet Harry in person.

“But shouldn’t you at least give him a call and tell him you’re coming first?” Liam suggested, raising a curious eyebrow.

Louis was about to reply when Zayn walked through the open bedroom door.

“That’s kind of the whole point in a surprise visit, Liam.” He said, walking over to the bed and falling down onto it. “He’s not supposed to know he’s coming.” 

Liam rolled his eyes at Zayn’s words, looking over at him.

“Jeez, thanks for pointing that out, Captain Obvious.” He said with another roll of his eyes, much to Zayn’s amusement. “I’m just not sure it’s such a good idea for him to just drive there without giving Harry any notice. They’ve never even met in real life before!” Liam pointed out, worry gracing all of his features as he spoke.

“And that’s exactly why he should do it!” Zayn responded as he sat up on the bed. Liam raised an eyebrow at Zayn’s words.

“Please, do explain your train of thoughts.” 

“They have never met in real life before, so planning a visit would make them both gut-wrenchingly nervous. And we both know that unless Louis does something spontaneously, his nerves are going to get the better of him and make him back out of it. We don’t know Harry, but what if he’s the same way? What if knowing Louis was on his way to come see him would make him so nervous that he’d cancel the whole thing? That would devastate Louis, and nobody wants that.” Zayn pointed out, watching as Liam nodded his head. He couldn’t argue with that, because Zayn was right.

“Therefore this is the best way to do it. Just help Louis pack up some things, put him in the car and have him drive to Harry without days and weeks of planning it in advance. And if Harry really likes Louis, he’s going to love the surprise Louis has for him by suddenly showing up at his doorstep.” Zayn finished, and Liam allowed a moment to pass as he let Zayn’s words slowly sink into his brain. 

“Okay, you have a point. I’m just worried, that’s all.” Liam sighed, defeated.

“You’re always worried. You worry more than Louis’ mother does.” Niall said with a teasing grin which made Liam frown slightly.

Louis couldn’t help but laugh at the three of them. They were his best friends, but a lot of the time they acted like his parents – especially Zayn and Liam. Liam was always so much like a worried mother, while Zayn was more the laid back father. It amused Louis greatly.

“As much as I agree with you, Zayn, you did say that you all would help me pack and so far all you guys are doing is taking up space in my bedroom without being helpful in any way.” Louis remarked as he turned back to his closet and went back to searching through it.

“You heard the man.” Niall said with a smile as he stood up, putting the book down on the bed next to Zayn. “Let’s help him pack and get him out of here so I can take advantage of his apartment while he’s gone.” 

Louis’ eyebrows shot up at that and he turned his head to look at Niall.

“And how exactly are you planning on taking advantage of my apartment?” Louis wanted to know, giving Niall a sceptical look.

Niall returned Louis’ sceptical look with an innocent one.

“Well, you’re going away for what? Four weeks?” 

Louis nodded. “Unless he sends me home before that, yes.”

“That gives me 4 weeks to fill your fridge with all the food I want and eat it all in peace. Without one of these knuckleheads coming to disturb me.” Niall admitted, gesturing to Zayn and Liam, a massive grin on his face as he spoke.

“Hey, you do realise we have keys to this place as well, right?” Zayn said, reaching out and playfully poking Niall’s side. 

“Damn, I forgot about that…” Niall muttered under his breath, causing both Zayn and Liam to chuckle.

“Well, you guys can use my apartment while I’m gone as long as nothing is broken by the time I get home, okay?” Louis said, finally finding the shirt he was looking for and putting it in his bag with the rest of the clothes he had packed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they won’t break anything.” Liam assured him.

“Of course you will, mommy…” Zayn teased, making Liam roll his eyes. 

“Alright, stop teasing and help me pack, will you? I want to leave before it gets too late.” Louis complained, checking the time again. 16:47. His vacation had started approximately two hours ago, right after his early shift at work had ended and he now had 5 weeks off, 4 of them he was planning on spending with Harry in Cheshire. Unless the curly-haired beauty wouldn’t be happy about his surprise visit and decide to send him home, that is.

\----------

“Alright, you got everything now?” Liam asked, closing the trunk of Louis’ car about two hours later. 

“Yeah, I think so.” Louis responded, taking a deep breath as he stood by the driver side of the car, fidgeting nervously with his car keys.

“How long will it take to drive to Holmes Chapel?” Niall wanted to know.

“About two hours.”

“And you’re sure you’ve got the right address?” Liam asked.

“Yeah, he gave it to me when I sent him those headphones I promised I’d get him.” Louis replied.

“Text us once you get there, yeah?” Zayn asked, reaching out and pulling Louis into a tight hug.

“Of course.” Louis promised as he returned Zayn’s hug, quickly being pulled into another one by Liam the second Zayn let go.

“You be careful, alright?” Liam’s words made Louis chuckle.

“Always the worried mother, Liam.” He said, patting Liam gently on the back as he pulled out of the hug, offering Liam a big smile. “But I’ll be careful. I promise.” He assured him, watching as a relieved look spread across Liam’s face at his words.

“Thank you.” Liam said, returning Louis’ smile. 

“And you, don’t trash my flat and leave a bunch of leftovers all over the place while I’m gone, okay?” Louis chuckled as he pulled Niall into a hug.

“I’ll try my best not to.” Niall promised.

“Good. Okay, I’ll see you guys in a few weeks.” Louis said as he pulled back and reached out to open the door to his car.

“Go get him, tiger!” Zayn grinned as Louis got into his car.

“Yeah, yeah.” Louis replied, closing the door and starting the engine, looking out at his mates through the window and giving them a wave before driving off, taking a deep breath as he prepared himself for the two hour long drive it would take him to get him to Holmes Chapel. To Harry. Louis’ hands were trembling as he gripped the steering wheel.

“Nothing to lose…” He muttered to himself as he turned on the radio, attempting to lose himself in the music playing there as he drove. 

\----------

As he stood outside Harry’s apartment door, Louis was sure his heart was going to break through his ribcage and jump out of his chest – that’s how hard it was beating. 

Going to see Harry had been a brilliant idea in his mind before he left, but now that he was actually here, the only thing separating him from the guy he had grown to be so obsessed with over the past three months being a door, he couldn’t help but think that this was a massive mistake.

What if Harry didn’t like him in person? What if this wouldn’t go the way he wanted it to go? What if Harry became pissed at him for showing up at his doorstep without any notice whatsoever? What if Harry decided that Louis wasn’t the kind of guy he seemed to be and Harry no longer had any interest in him? All these thoughts were occupying Louis’ mind, making him seriously doubt his decision to come here and all of his instincts were screaming at him to leave, to get the hell out of there before he ruined what could possibly be the best thing that had ever happened to him. 

But what if it was? What if Harry was the best thing that had ever happened to him? What if this whole thing could turn into something good – something great, something that would last forever? What if what was behind that door was everything Louis had ever wanted and needed in his life? 

With those thoughts making his heart speed up even more in his chest, Louis reached up and knocked four times on the door. As he waited, he could feel that his palms were getting sweaty and it felt like it was 100 degrees in the hallway. 

“Nothing to lose, Louis… Nothing to lose…” Louis whispered to himself once again and then, the door opened, revealing the most gorgeous human being Louis had ever seen in his entire life. Harry was even more beautiful in real life than he was in pictures.

Harry’s jaw dropped open at the sight of Louis standing there outside his door, giving the most shy and adorable smile Harry had ever seen. 

“Louis?” Harry all but whispered, too surprised to make his voice work properly. Louis smiled again.

“Hi Harry.”


	5. Chapter 5

When there was a knock on his door – well, four knocks on his door, actually – Harry raised an eyebrow. Lifting his arm, Harry checked the watch on his wrist. 21:31. 

“ _Odd._ ” Harry thought to himself. He wasn’t expecting anyone, and people very rarely visited him at this hour. But, despite his confusion, Harry walked out of his kitchen and down the hallway to his front door. Turning the key, he grabbed a hold of the handle and opened the door. The sight that met his eyes made his heart momentarily stop beating in his chest.

There, right outside his apartment door, stood the most beautiful man Harry had ever seen in his life. Blue eyes met green for the first time since the two of them had started talking online three months ago and by God, Louis’ eyes were so deep that Harry swore he could have dived into them and drowned had he wanted to. 

Louis was even more beautiful in real life and Harry suddenly found it hard to breathe, let alone catch his voice and actually say something. All he could do at the moment was stare and try to convince his own mind that Louis was actually here, and that his brain wasn’t just playing a trick on him.

 _Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh **God**._

Harry’s mind was spinning with thoughts and emotions and he didn’t know what to do with them all or how to sort them. And then he realised that he was still just staring at Louis and if he didn’t say something soon, Louis would probably think he wasn’t happy to see him and leave again. As a flash of panic struck him at the thought, Harry took a deep breath before finally finding his ability to speak again, despite the fact that his words – well, _word_ – only came out as a low whisper.

“Louis?”

_Smooth, Harry. Real smooth._

Harry was about to say something else, mentally cursing his own mind for not giving him anything better to say when Louis suddenly smiled at him and oh God, if Harry’s heart didn’t stop beating for good at the mere sight of Louis’ beautiful smile, Harry would be genuinely surprised. 

“Hi Harry.”

“ _Good God, even his voice sounds even more beautiful in real life._ ” Harry thought to himself, mentally telling himself to stop fucking staring before he made Louis think he was a complete freak.

Shaking his head to himself, almost like he was doing it to show his disbelief, Harry cleared his throat and somehow managed to sort out his thoughts enough to form a decent sentence.

“Hi Louis. What are you doing here?” Harry asked, looking at Louis as if he would disappear into thin air at any second. 

“Well, I have five weeks of vacation and I figured I’d start them off by coming to see you. I know I should have talked to you about it first to make sure it was okay, but I was just kind of worried you’d say no and I didn’t want that so I just came here and figured it would make it more difficult for you to send me away if I was actually here and… Why are you smiling like that?” Louis suddenly cut off his own rambling when he noticed the massive grin that had made its way onto Harry’s face.

Harry failed to hold back a small chuckle, finding the way Louis was rambling to be absolutely adorable and unable to keep himself from smiling as it reminded him of the time Louis had called him in the middle of the night to apologise for not calling him all day.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t help but smile when you’re rambling.” Harry admitted, watching as a small blush crept up Louis’ cheeks and a small smile played across Louis’ lips.

“Yeah, I guess I have a tendency to do that with you…” Louis said quietly, shaking his head to himself before speaking again. “Anyway, is it okay that I’m here? If it’s not okay, I can drive back home, and I can totally stay at a hotel if you want me to, or…” 

“Louis?” Harry cut him off.

“Yeah?” 

“Breathe.” 

A flashback from the last time Harry had told him to breathe played in Louis’ mind and he couldn’t help but smile at the memory.

“Sorry.” He grinned, a grin that only made Harry’s grin widen in return.

“Don’t be. And you’re not staying at a hotel or going home. Come on in.” Harry said, stepping to the side to allow Louis to enter his apartment. Louis did so and when Harry closed the door behind him, Louis turned around to face him.

“You know, I was kind of expecting a hug or at least a handshake or something…” Louis said, almost a little carefully and Harry had to grin again. 

Reaching out, Harry pushed the two bags hanging on Louis’ shoulders off and watched as they fell to the floor at their feet before reaching out, wrapping his arms tight around Louis’ neck in a tight hug – a hug that felt _way_ overdue.

Louis’ arms immediately found their way around Harry’s waist as he hugged him back just as tightly, unable to keep himself from smiling as Harry almost automatically nuzzled his face into the side of Louis’ neck, allowing Louis the opportunity to bury his face in those beautiful dark curls. 

He took a deep breath, taking in the scent of Harry’s hair and let out a soft, satisfied sigh. Harry’s hair smelled like mangos and papaya, and Louis wondered if he had ever smelled anything more delicious. He quickly realised he hadn’t.

Harry took a deep breath of his own, and the scent of Louis’ skin made his own skin tingle. He couldn’t quite recognise the scent on Louis’ skin, but quickly decided that it couldn’t be anything else except for pure _Louis_. And it was the best scent in the world, Harry concluded with. 

“It’s _so_ good to finally meet you in person.” Harry admitted as he slowly pulled out of the tight embrace, despite the fact that every fibre in his being was screaming at him to stay put in Louis’ arms and never move again. 

“Likewise.” Louis said softly, letting his arms linger around Harry’s waist for a few seconds longer as the two of them just gazed at each other before slowly – and a little reluctantly – letting them drop to his side.

Harry smiled and bent down to pick up Louis’ bags – something Louis was also apparently planning on doing at the exact same time – and as their hands touched when they both reached for the same bag, it was like a shot of electricity shot through both their bodies and then there was a moment when the two of them just looked at each other, their cheeks slightly flushed before Louis quickly shifted and grabbed his other bag, letting Harry grab the one they both first went for.

As they straightened back up, Harry made a motion for Louis to follow him down the hallway and Louis did so without question, shouldering his bag again.

“So how long are you planning on staying?” Harry asked, looking at Louis over his shoulder as they walked.

“Well, that’s really up to you. How long would you like me to stay?” Louis questioned, meeting Harry’s gaze and giving him a soft smile.

“ _Forever._ ” Harry’s mind mumbled – a thought Harry decided it wouldn’t be very wise to voice given the fact that he and Louis had only just met face to face for the first time a few minutes ago. Instead, he decided to go for something a little less… _Clingy_.

“You can stay as long as you want to.” Harry said as he opened a door and walked through it, Louis following him into what appeared to be the guest room. 

It was a simple, but nice room: The walls were white, while the carpet was black. The bed was queen sized with black and white bed sheets. The bedside tables were also white, while the dresser in one corner of the room was black and there was even a black, very comfy-looking chair in another corner. Louis quickly realised that Harry had obviously wanted the interior in the room to match, just as quickly as he realised that Harry had good taste. 

“I hope this is okay.” Harry said, setting Louis’ bag down on the bed. Louis nodded his head, walking over to the bed as well and putting his other bag down to the one Harry had placed on the bed.

“It’s great, thanks.” Louis replied with a smile, which Harry returned with a smile of his own. 

“Good. Come on, I’ll show you around and then I’ll make us something to eat. You must be rather hungry from the drive here.” Harry then said, heading back out of the guest room, Louis following him close behind.

Louis was shown the entirety of Harry’s apartment; the bathroom, the living room, the kitchen and finally Harry’s bedroom, which was almost exactly like the guest room, only it was a little bigger and there was a flat screen TV hanging on the wall facing the foot of the bed. 

“So what do you think?” Harry asked as the two of them walked back to the kitchen.

“You have really good taste.” Louis replied with honesty, causing a smile to spread across Harry’s lips.

“Thank you.” Harry said as he opened the fridge and looked around inside for a moment.

Louis walked over to the kitchen counter by the stove and jumped up onto it, watching Harry as he continued to search through his fridge for another moment before finally finding the supplies he needed and brought them over to the counter next to where Louis was sitting. 

“What are you making?” Louis questioned as he watched Harry set about getting out all the kitchen supplies he would need for the dish he was preparing.

“Spaghetti.” Harry answered with a grin. Louis couldn’t hold back a wide smile of his own.

“My favourite food.” He said, watching as Harry nodded.

“I know. I remember you told me.” 

Louis’ heart fluttered in his chest at that. The fact that Harry remembered what his favourite food was despite the fact that Louis had told him over two months ago was sweet and very heart-warming, and Louis couldn’t ignore the feeling of pure happiness that spread through his body.

As Harry started cooking and Louis happily settled into watching him from his position on the counter, he couldn’t ignore how normal and right this felt. It shouldn’t feel this right, though. Not so soon. But it did. And it felt both intimidating and good at the same time. 

Shaking his head to himself, Louis decided to push those feelings away for now and instead just settle for enjoying Harry’s company. 

The hours passed by quickly then; Harry and Louis talking about everything and nothing, laughing and joking as if they had known each other for years and not just months. When Harry finally looked at the time again, he blinked a few times to make sure his eyes weren’t playing a trick on him.

“Jesus Christ, it’s 2am already.” He said with slight surprise apparent in his voice.

“Really? Wow.” Louis replied, letting out a soft yawn as if the sudden realisation of what time it was made him tired. And perhaps it did. Harry smiled.

“And you’re tired. Come on, let’s go get some sleep.” He said, rising from the couch and holding his hand out for Louis to take. Louis did and let Harry pull him to his feet.

“Are you working tomorrow?” Louis asked.

“No, I have the day off.” Harry replied. The corners of Louis’ mouth tilted upwards in a smile at that.

“Great. Maybe you can show me around the city then?” Louis suggested, watching as Harry nodded his head.

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.” Harry agreed. He then noticed that he still hadn’t let go of Louis’ hand and blushed as he quickly pulled his hand back. “Come on, bed time.” He said, turning around and heading out of the living room and down the hallway.

Louis’ own cheeks felt warmer at the longer-than-necessary hand-holding as he followed Harry out of the living room and down the hallway. 

Harry’s bedroom was at the very end of the hallway, while the guest room was just a foot away from the living room, right across the bathroom, so Harry stopped as he reached the open door leading into the guest room and turned around to face Louis.

“I’ll see you in the morning then.” Harry said with a smile that made Louis’ heart skip a beat in his chest. Momentarily Louis lost his ability to speak and when he didn’t respond for a quite a while, Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Louis?” Harry asked, sounded slightly worried, but his smile never faltered.

“Sorry. Yeah, you’ll definitely see me in the morning.” Louis finally said, clearing his throat and returning Harry’s smile, oblivious to the fact that Harry’s heart did a backflip in his chest at the sight. 

“Good.” He said before turning around and heading down the hallway to his bedroom. Louis took the opportunity to admire the way Harry’s hips swung as he walked for a moment before turning to walk into the guest room. However, Harry’s voice stopped him in the doorway.

“Hey, Louis?” 

Louis stopped half-way through the door and leaned back to meet Harry’s gaze.

“Yeah?”

Harry bit his lip for a moment, as if pondering on whether he should say what he was planning on saying or not. 

“I’m…” He began, struggling to find the right words. He took a deep breath. “I’m really glad you’re here.” 

Louis smiled at that.

“I’m really glad I’m here too.” 

Harry smiled as well at Louis’ words before he disappeared into his bedroom, closing the door softly behind himself, Louis copying him and walking fully into the guest room and closing the door.

As he got undressed and put his clothes on the chair in the corner, Louis was unable to rid himself of the smile Harry’s admittance had placed on his lips, and it even grew wider as Louis got into bed under the covers and lay back against the very comfortable pillows on the very comfortable bed. And Louis really couldn’t bring himself to care that he was feeling giddy about being here. 

So what if Harry made him feel like a teenage girl with a massive crush, even more than he had done over the past three months? So what if being here felt more right than being at home? So what if Louis had the desperate need to sneak into Harry’s bedroom and climb into bed with him instead of staying in the guest room?

And so what if Louis fell asleep with the biggest smile on his face, oblivious to the fact that just down the hall in his own bed, Harry was doing the exact same thing?


	6. Chapter 6

Waking up in an unfamiliar bed was something Louis was by far not used to. His head was clouded as his eyes opened and he had to blink several times to take in the room he was in. Confusion spread through his body as he didn’t immediately recognise the room and a sharp sting of panic appeared in the pit of his stomach. Then the memory from last night made itself known in Louis’ mind and a sense of relief and happiness rushed through him.

He was at Harry’s place, and the bed he had woken up in was Harry’s guest bed. 

Louis smiled. He hadn’t woken up feeling this happy in ages, and it was a feeling he had sorely missed. Stretching, Louis allowed himself a minute to just relax in the very comfortable bed before he finally decided it was time to get up. 

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Louis stood, walking over to his bag and opening it. He pulled out a pair of red pants and put them on before he grabbed one of his favourite white t-shirt with black stripes and pulled it down over his head. He grabbed a pair of suspenders and put those on as well before finding a pair of ankle-socks to complete his outfit. Fully dressed, Louis took a moment to fix his hair in the big mirror on the wall before he turned around and headed out through the bedroom door. 

Just as he did so, he saw Harry coming out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist. Louis couldn’t help but let his eyes roam across Harry’s toned body and he absentmindedly licked his lips. He noticed the small blush that crept up Harry’s cheeks, which only added to his beauty.

“Like what you see?” Harry asked, his tone teasing, but also slightly self-conscious. It was Louis’ turn to blush now that Harry had caught him staring.

“I, uhm…” He began, trying to clear his suddenly dry throat before speaking again. “Yeah, you look… Good…” He finally managed, averting his eyes from Harry’s body, completely embarrassed. It was obvious that Harry spent quite a bit of time in the gym, as his body was firm and bulky in all the right places.

Harry let out a low chuckle, though Louis noticed that it sounded slightly nervous and embarrassed.

“Thank you…” He said, and if Louis had been looking at him, he would have seen the way Harry was biting his lip. Harry was glad he wasn’t looking, though. “I’m gonna go get dressed and then I’ll take you out for breakfast?” He suggested.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Louis said with a nod of his head and with that, Harry smiled and disappeared down the hallway and into his bedroom. 

Louis closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breath. Having seen Harry wearing nothing but a towel was not something he had been prepared for, and his body was slowly starting to react to it. He couldn’t afford to be turned on now. Taking another deep breath, Louis tried to picture every repulsive image he could think of to make his body calm down.

_Zombies, naked old people, Zayn in a dress, Niall in a dress, Liam in a dress…_

That did the trick, and the last few images even made him chuckle to himself. Sure, his friends would look terrible in dresses, but it was still a very amusing thought. With a shake of his head, Louis headed down the hallway and into Harry’s living room where he took a seat on the couch and grabbed the TV remote from the coffee table. He turned the telly on and flicked through the channels, not finding anything that amused him on any of the many channels. 

He didn’t have to settle for watching a show he wasn’t really interested, though, because soon enough Harry appeared in the doorway, smiling widely.

“Watching anything interesting?” He asked, and Louis shook his head.

“Absolutely not.” He said truthfully, turning the telly back off and turning his head to look at Harry.

“Shall we go?” Harry asked, already turning to head towards the front door. Louis got up and followed him and put on his shoes, reaching for his jacket.

“I don’t think you’ll need that.” Harry said. “It’s quite warm out.” 

Louis nodded, dropping his hand as he watched Harry put his own shoes on. With that, they headed out the door and proceeded to leave Harry’s apartment building.

\-----------------

Harry took Louis to a small café for breakfast, a café Harry apparently spent a lot of time at. All the people working there knew him, and Louis hadn’t been able to stop smiling as Harry had introduced him to each and every one. 

They had both ordered a full English breakfast and by the time they were finished eating, Louis felt so full that he thought he was going to burst. Harry had paid for the food, despite Louis having protested and insisted he should pay, but Harry had merely smiled and shook his head as he played the “You’re a guest in my town, it’s only natural that I pay” card, and Louis had been left unable to argue.

After breakfast, Harry had shown him around the city, and Louis had quickly come to realise that he quite liked it here. Harry had taken him to a music store and that’s where Louis now found himself, walking around between racks of guitars, sets of drums, several pianos and quite a few other different instruments. 

“Are you looking for something in particular?” Louis asked Harry, watching as the other man looked around the empty store, apparently searching for something.

“Yeah, one of my friends, Daniel, works here and it’s his birthday, so I figured I’d go wish him a happy birthday.” Harry said, smiling as he glanced over at Louis. “I’ll go check if he’s at the back.” He continued and Louis nodded before Harry disappeared towards the back of the store. 

Louis let his eyes roam across the instruments, his eyes landing on a guitar standing in one corner of the store, leaning against a stool. He walked over to it and noticed the “Feel free to jam!” sign that hung on the wall by the stool and guitar. Seeing the store was empty, Louis took a seat and picked up the guitar. He let his fingers run over the strings, checking that the guitar was in tune and smiling when he realised that it was.

He moved his fingers over the strings and soon enough settled into playing the melody of a song that had been stuck in his head recently, quietly singing the lyrics as he played.

“ _We’ll do it all, everything, on our own._ ” He began, his voice barely audible as he sang. 

“ _We don’t need anything, or anyone… If I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?_ ” 

Louis closed his eyes, something he always did when he sang and lost himself in the words that were flowing quietly and delicately out of his mouth.

“ _I don’t quite know how to say how I feel… Those three words are said too much, they’re not enough… If I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world? Forget what we’re told, before we get too old. Show me a garden that’s bursting into life._ ”

Too lost in the song, Louis didn’t notice that Harry had stepped up behind him, listening carefully to every line Louis sang. 

He had never heard Louis sing before, and the sound of his voice sent a shiver down Harry’s spine. Louis had the voice of an angel, Harry concluded to himself.

“ _Let’s waste time chasing cars around our heads… I need your grace to remind me to find my own… If I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world? Forget what we’re told, before we get too old. Show me a garden that’s bursting into life. All that I am, all that I ever was, is here in your perfect eyes, they’re all I can see…_ ” 

Harry’s eyes drifted shut as he let the sound of Louis’ beautiful voice just wash over him.

“ _I don’t know where, confused about how as well. Just know that these things will never change for us at all… If I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?_ ” 

Louis stopped singing, and his eyes slowly opened. He was relieved to see that the store was still empty.

“That was beautiful.” 

Harry’s voice made Louis jump up and turn around in surprise. His cheeks turned a bright shade of red and he let his gaze drop to the floor. 

“Oh, I… Uhm…” Louis began, not quite sure what to say as he put the guitar down. He really wasn’t good at taking compliments about his singing. “Thank you.” He finally managed to force out, and he lifted his eyes again to see the soft smile on Harry’s lips. Suddenly he didn’t feel so self-conscious about getting caught singing anymore.

“You’re welcome.” Harry said, nodding his head towards the exit. “Should we get out of here?” He asked, to which Louis nodded. 

\----------------

They spent the remaining hours of the afternoon just walking around the city, visiting different shops and Harry showing and telling Louis practically everything there was to show and tell about his city. Louis loved listening to Harry, and he was rather disappointed when the afternoon was over and the two of them were heading back to Harry’s apartment. Though his disappointment didn’t last long as he remembered that they were going back to Harry’s apartment and that Louis still would get to spend plenty of more time with Harry. 

For dinner they ordered pizza and after they had eaten, they settled down on Harry’s couch to watch Thor – Louis had insisted because he just loved that movie – and Harry had never seen it before, so he didn’t protest. When it was over, Harry could easily understand why Louis loved the movie so much and when Louis suggested they should watch it again, Harry once again didn’t protest. 

It was getting late, however, and halfway through the movie they had both fallen asleep, Harry’s head resting on Louis’ shoulder.

And if Louis woke up once in the middle of the night and wrapped an arm around Harry’s shoulders instead of pushing him away before falling back asleep, then so be it. And if Harry woke up just seconds after and snuggled further into Louis’ side and noticed the feint blush that had crept up Louis’ cheeks, he didn’t comment on it in the morning.


	7. Chapter 7

It was 21:34, and that was the exact moment Liam Payne had decided it would be a great idea to disturb the comfortable calm of Harry’s living room.

“ _Louis William Tomlinson!_ ” 

The sound of Liam’s high-pitched voice made Louis hold the phone away from his ear for a long moment so he wouldn’t end up with exploded eardrums. 

Harry looked up at Louis from his position on the floor, his back leaned against the couch as his fingers stopped strumming along the strings of the guitar he had in his lap. Louis was lying on his back on the couch, meeting Harry’s gaze as Liam’s voice shrieked out of the phone. Harry raised a questioning eyebrow, and Louis shook his head as if to say “ _I have no idea what’s wrong with him_ ”.

“Liam…” Louis began, tentatively putting the phone back against his ear. “What’s wrong?” 

“ _What’s wrong?!_ ” Liam’s voice came again, still high-pitched and loud enough for Harry to hear. He raised an eyebrow again.

“ _I’ll tell you what’s wrong! You have been gone for over a week, Louis! Over a week! And the only thing I have gotten from you was a simple text message the night when you first got there! You haven’t responded to my texts or calls since then, and I have been worried sick!_ ” 

Louis couldn’t help the grin that spread across his lips as he listened to Liam, once again sounding more like a concerned mother than a mate. 

Harry appeared to find the sound of Liam amusing as well – yes, Liam was still speaking loud enough for Harry to hear – because a soft chuckle slipped past his lips.

“Oh mate, I’m so sorry. I’ve gotten your texts and I’ve seen that you called, I’ve just…” Louis paused, looking at Harry for a moment. “Completely forgotten to text or call you back.” He finished, his eyes absentmindedly moving across Harry’s face as the other man turned his attention back to his guitar, once again letting his fingers strum against the strings.

The last week and a half had passed by in a blur, and Harry had showed Louis practically every inch of his town. He’d taken him to every store he thought could be of interest to Louis, they had gone to the cinema more than once, and Harry had even insisted Louis come with him to work so he could meet his co-workers. 

It had been amusing, meeting Harry’s co-workers, as they all had quite interesting personalities. There was this one guy – Damien – who had a terrible sense of humour, and nobody thought his jokes were funny, but it was impossible not to laugh around him because his laugh was just so damn special and infectious. 

There was also a woman, Danielle, who had curly hair, big, breath-taking eyes and was downright beautiful. She was a dancer, Louis learned, and she had the greatest personality. Louis couldn’t help but think she would be perfect for Liam and made a mental note to himself to try to introduce the two of them in some way at some point.

Then there was Matt. Louis really liked Matt. He was one of those guys who just made you feel like you had a big brother in him and it didn’t take Louis long to realise that Matt was the person Harry confined in the most. He always seemed to be very protective over Harry, but Louis had luckily made a good impression on him and Matt hadn’t hesitated to bring up the fact that Harry talked about Louis _all the time_ – which had made Harry blush and frown and gone all “ _Shut up, Matt_ ” in that adorable shy voice of his, which had made Louis want to kiss him, but he didn’t – and Louis couldn’t help but wonder what exactly it was Harry had said about him.

“ _Are you even listening to me?!_ ” 

Liam’s still high-pitched voice brought Louis out of his thoughts and he realised he had been staring at Harry for God knows how long without even having registered whatever it was Liam had said to him. Harry, thankfully, hadn’t noticed his stare, but he did turn his head to look up at Louis when he heard Liam’s voice again.

“Yeah, sorry, I just zoned out for a moment.” Louis apologised, his cheeks feeling slightly warmer than usual as Harry smiled at him.

_God, how he adored Harry’s smile._

“ _Well, I’m glad you’re still alive._ ” Liam said, his voice going down a notch as he spoke. “ _Please be better at contacting me from now on, though? You know how easily I get worried._ ” 

Louis let a soft chuckle slip past his lips and he nodded his head to himself. 

“Yes, I know, mother.” He said, his voice teasing, and he could see that Harry was smiling despite once again having turned back to his guitar.

“ _Thank you._ ” Liam said, bluntly ignoring the teasing insult Louis had thrown at him. “ _Okay, I’ll let you get back to your lover now._ ” 

Louis was about to protest to that when there was shuffling coming from the other end of the line.

“ _Speaking of which, have you banged him yet?_ ” Zayn’s voice was suddenly coming through the phone and Louis felt his cheeks flush quickly. He cleared his throat and glanced at Harry, thankful that Zayn’s voice wasn’t as loud as Liam’s.

“No.” Louis practically hissed into the phone.

“ _What? Oh, come on! At least tell me you’ve shoved your tongue down his throat!_ ” Zayn continued and Louis’ cheeks felt like they were on fire.

The most intimate thing he and Harry had done so far was cuddle on the couch in their sleep that one night when they had watched _Thor_ and since then their actions had been limited to the brushing of hands, casual arms around the other one’s shoulders and gentle hugs. 

It’s not that Louis didn’t want to do more than that – because God, he did – it was just that he didn’t want to take things too far in fear of having Harry reject his advances. So, ignoring his own urges and desires, Louis had kept cool.

“We are not having this conversation right now!” Louis said, his voice dropping to a whisper so Harry wouldn’t hear him.

“ _But I want to…_ ”

“Goodbye, Zayn!” Louis breathed, ending the call before Zayn had the chance to protest. He put his phone down on the small table by the arm of the couch and shook his head to himself. 

As he heard the sound of Louis putting his phone down, Harry turned his head again and looked up at Louis.

“Are you in trouble?” He asked, his voice teasing and the smile on his lips only adding to the effect.

Louis stuck his tongue out, but grinned back at Harry nonetheless.

“No. Liam just got worried because I’ve been terrible at staying in touch while I’ve been here so far.” He explained, watching as Harry nodded his head. 

“I see.” Harry replied, putting his guitar down and shifting slightly so he could look at Harry without straining his neck. “And what conversation was it that you didn’t want to have with Zayn right now?” 

Louis’ cheeks flushed again at Harry’s question and he bit down at his own lower lip.

“You heard that, huh?” He asked, shyly and Harry let out a throaty chuckle.

“Yeah, well, whispering doesn’t really help when I’m sitting right next to you, Lou-Lou.” Harry teased, and the sound of the nickname Harry had started using for him made Louis’ heart skip a beat in his chest.

“Good point.” Louis agreed, flashing Harry a wide grin to hide his embarrassment, despite the fact that the blush was still rather apparent on his cheeks.

“So what was it?” Harry asked again. Louis bit his lip.

“Nothing, he just… Wanted to know if we’d… _Done_ anything yet.” Louis responded, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. 

It wasn’t as if it was hard to tell that Harry really enjoyed being in Louis’ company and genuinely liked him, but Louis had been wrong before and for all he knew, Harry saw him as nothing more than a friend.

“Oh.” Harry simply said. Asking if his friend had done anything when he was on vacation wasn’t something out of the ordinary, and he couldn’t really understand why Louis felt the need to whisper about not wanting to have that conversation. 

Then, it dawned on him what Louis really meant.

“ _Ohh!_ ” He said again, making his understanding of what Louis had meant perfectly clear in the way he said it as well as in the way a soft blush crept up his cheeks. 

“Yeah…” Louis confirmed with a nod of his head.

They sat in silence for a moment after that, and for the first time since Louis got here, it felt slightly uncomfortable.

Harry was eventually the one who decided to break the silence with a question that caught Louis completely off guard.

“Do you want to go out with me?” He asked, and Louis almost fell off the couch.

“I, uhm… What?” Louis asked, blinking his eyes slightly in confusion.

“Do you want to go out?” Harry repeated himself, his voice calm as he looked up at Louis with a raised eyebrow.

“Harry, it’s almost 10pm and we’ve been out…” Louis cut himself off, the look on Harry’s face giving away exactly what he meant. “ _Oh._ ” 

“Yes. Oh.” Harry confirmed, a small smile playing across his lips. Louis cleared his throat.

“By ‘go out’, you mean like actually _go out?_ ”

“Yes.”

“Like, on a date?”

“That’s usually the definition of it, yes.”

“With _you?_ ” 

“No, with the mailman Carl.”

“Carl? Isn’t he a little too…”

“Louis!” Harry complained, rolling his eyes as if Louis was an idiot.

He wasn’t, not really. He just wanted to make sure – absolutely sure – that he had gotten Harry’s question right. 

“Sorry, sorry, I just…” Louis cut himself off before he said something stupid again. “Yes. Yes, I’d love to go out.”

Harry flashed him a grin and, oh God, Louis was sure his heart was going to break out of his ribcage.

“So you want to go out?” He asked. Louis nodded.

“Yes.”

“Like actually _go out?_ ” 

“Yes.”

“Like, on a _date?_ ”

Louis groaned, which only made Harry grin wider.

“Yes.”

“With _me?_ ”

“ _Harry!_ ” Louis was the one who whined now, and Harry couldn’t help but burst into a fit of chuckles, clutching his stomach as he laughed, the annoyed expression on Louis’ face priceless.

“I’m sorry. I just had to.” Harry apologised, reaching up a hand to run it gently through Louis’ hair. The action was so intimate and unexpected, yet it made Louis relax and lean against the touch.

“You’re mean.” 

“Mhm. So tomorrow then? We’re going out?” Harry asked, tucking a lock of Louis’ hair behind his ear.

“Yes.” 

“Like actually _go out_?”

“Oh, shut up.” Louis groaned, reaching out and pushing at Harry’s shoulder until he stumbled backwards and landed on his back with a loud chuckle as he hit the floor.


	8. Chapter 8

His hands were trembling, his heart racing in his chest as he felt a drop of sweat form on his forehead. He fiddled with his tie, struggling to get it buttoned up properly, and failing more than once. He frowned, undid the buttons again for what must have been the 50th time and did them again, this time finally getting each button into the right hole of his shirt. 

He was nervous. So terribly nervous, and it was strange. 

Harry Styles didn’t get nervous before a date. It just didn’t happen. So why it was happening now, Harry had no idea. 

He looked in the mirror, making sure his hair looked good and that his curls weren’t completely out of control. He checked once more to make sure the buttons on his black shirt were buttoned correctly and that the fly on his dark blue jeans wasn’t open before he finally took a deep breath, deciding he looked presentable enough to go out in public with Louis.

His hands were still trembling as he opened his bedroom door and stepped out into the hallway. Harry momentarily considered putting on a jacket over his shirt, but eventually decided against it. It was summer, and it would be too warm for a jacket, so Harry walked down the hallway in his dark blue jeans and black button-down shirt, the look completed with a pair of white sneakers, and stopped outside the door leading into the guest room.

Harry had been on plenty of dates before, but he had never actually been genuinely nervous before one up until this moment. He didn’t know exactly what it was about going out with Louis that made him feel like this, but if he was being honest with himself, Harry really didn’t mind it. There was just something about Louis that made Harry want everything to be perfect. He didn’t want to screw this whole thing with Louis up, and he had never been that concerned with making sure a date would go perfectly before. 

For the first time in his life, Harry actually felt like there could be something more, like he could actually have something real with the person he was going out with. It was a slightly intimidating thought, really, but Harry welcomed it nevertheless. 

With a deep intake of breath, Harry raised a hand and knocked on the closed bedroom door, feeling well stupid about knocking at a door in his own apartment, but ignoring the feeling. This was a date, and seeing he couldn’t actually pick Louis up at his place, he would at least try to get this right. 

“Hi Harry.” Louis said with a grin the second he opened the door. He was dressed in red, tight-fitting pants that Harry was sure sat perfectly over his firm, perfect bum, a black button-down shirt that matched Harry’s. He was also wearing grey suspenders and on anyone else, Harry would have thought it looked strange, but for some reason, Louis pulled the look off. On his feet, Louis had a pair of white converse and his hair looked simply breath taking, styled in such a way that it looked messy, but yet good, a look Louis seemed to be quite fond of. Harry could easily understand why. 

Harry was brought out of his apparent trance when Louis spoke again.

“I’d invite you in to wait, but, you know, seeing we’re in your flat and this is just your guest bedroom, I figured that would be kind of weird.” Louis said, his words making a soft chuckle slip past Harry’s lips.

“That would be rather weird, yes.” Harry agreed with a nod of his head.

“Well, I’m ready anyway, so it would be pointless as well.” Louis replied with a massive grin on his face. “Should we get going?”

Harry nodded his head and took a step back, Louis stepping out of the guest room after him. 

“Yeah, let’s go.” Harry said, his grin matching Louis’ as they together turned around and headed down the hallway towards the front door.

\----------------------

“What would you two like to have?” The blonde waitress standing by their table was grinning like mad at the both of them as she waited for them to reply. 

“I think I’ll have the rump steak. Well done and with peppercorn sauce.” Harry said with a smile, handing the menu back to the waitress. She scribbled down his order before she took the menu, turning her head to look at Louis.

“And you, love?” She asked.

“I’ll have the same as he’s having.” Louis replied, giving her one of his most charming smiles as he too handed the menu back. Harry could see the way the waitress blushed slightly, not able to resist Louis’ charm.

“Very well.” She said before she turned around and disappeared out of sight, a slight skip in her step as she moved.

“I think she likes you.” Harry said with a wink to which Louis merely rolled his eyes.

“Her gay-dar must be way off if she likes me.” Louis replied, a slight hint of amusement in his eyes as he spoke. Harry couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Or maybe she’s just trying to convince herself that you’re straight?” He offered, making Louis mirror Harry’s chuckle with his own.

“Maybe.” He said simply, looking around at their surroundings.

Harry had taken him to this nice little place called George & Dragon, a pub/restaurant that was located only about a 15 minute walk from Harry’s apartment, and it appeared to be a lot more high-class than the usual English pub. The place was crowded, but not overly so, and there was soft music playing in the room, adding to the already calm and enjoyable atmosphere.

There were all sorts of people here: Older men sitting at the bar, discussing what Louis guessed must be sports related, a few families having a sit down for dinner, and quite a few couples, old and young, that had apparently chosen this place for their date. Louis couldn’t blame them; the place was great. 

As he let his gaze moved back to Harry who was sitting across from him at their table in one corner of the room, he noticed that the curly-haired man was smiling at him.

“What?” Louis asked, raising an eyebrow, though he could not help but smile back.

“Nothing. You just… You look like you at least don’t hate it here.” Harry explained, lifting his glass of beer that they had ordered when they had first gotten here.

Louis couldn’t help the way his smile widened at those words and he took a quick glance around again before once again returning his attention to Harry.

“I actually love it here.” Louis admitted, his honest words making Harry’s eyes light up with happiness. 

“What exactly is it you ordered? I didn’t really get a very good look at the menu.” Louis asked, picking up his own glass of beer and taking a drink of it.

“An 8oz well done rump steak with chips, onion rings, grilled tomato, mushrooms and peppercorn sauce. It’s delicious.” Harry explained, smiling as he spoke.

Louis nodded, absentmindedly licking his lips at that. It sounded delicious, and Louis was starving, so he was genuinely looking forward to having the food brought over. 

“That does sound great.” Louis began. “However, if I end up getting food poisoned, I will blame you.” He continued, a teasing edge to his voice as he spoke.

Harry stuck his tongue out and reached across the table to gently slap the back of Louis’ hand. 

“You won’t get food poisoned, you idiot.” He said as he moved to pull his hand back. Louis, however, had other planned and he turned his own hand around, grabbing a hold of Harry’s and holding it still.

“It’s not nice to call your date an idiot.” Louis pointed out, pouting slightly as he spoke. 

“But my date is an idiot.” Harry argued. Louis was still holding onto his hand and it didn’t seem like he was about to let go anytime soon, so Harry wrapped his fingers gently around Louis’ hand, making it clear that he wasn’t going to pull his hand back.

Louis relaxed his grip slightly at the action, but he still didn’t let go. And Harry was glad, because he really didn’t want him to.

“In that case, you’re an idiot for asking out an idiot.” Louis’ argument made Harry chuckle and he gave Louis’ hand a gentle squeeze.

“I’ve never said I’m not an idiot.” Harry informed him, pleased with himself as the pout turned into a wide smile at his words. 

“You’re lucky I like idiots, then.” Louis said, and as Harry was about to reply, he spotted their waitress coming towards their table with their food. 

He gave Louis’ hand a gentle squeeze before he slowly let go, not rushing it as he wanted the waitress to see, and hopefully understand, that she would not stand a chance with Louis. He couldn’t help but smirk as his plan seemed to work because the waitress looked slightly disappointed when she put their food down in front of them. 

Louis saw it too, but he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he just smiled sweetly at the waitress, who seemed to give a small pout before she once again disappeared from their sight, leaving Harry and Louis in peace with their dinner.

“Well, now she definitely knows I’m gay.” Louis said when the waitress was well out of sight and Harry laughed as he picked up his cutlery.

“Yep. And now she also knows you’re off the market.” Harry stated.

Louis raised an eyebrow.

“I wasn’t aware of the fact that I was off the market?” He asked, though he couldn’t hide the faint smile playing on his lips as he spoke. Harry just shrugged, smiling back at him.

“You’re not, not yet. But you will be.” He said, sounding almost overly confident as he started to eat. Louis, however, didn’t mind the confidence and dug into his own food with a grin.

\-----------

The dinner passed by rather quickly, the two of them quickly getting caught up in a conversation about their jobs, sharing funny and stressful stories, and sympathizing with each other when it was appropriate. 

They had contemplated on ordering dessert after finishing their meal, but decided against it as neither one of them had a craving for ice cream and the strawberry shortcake the menu had to offer was quickly dismissed as Louis made it clear that as much as he loved strawberries, he couldn’t stand it when “some genius decided to put it into a cake to ruin the whole delicious purpose of it”.

They didn’t leave immediately, however, and ordered another pint each and finished it before they decided to call it a night. 

Harry insisted on paying and despite Louis’ protests, Harry got his way and the pair eventually found themselves walking back towards Harry’s apartment.

The time was edging towards midnight and despite the fact that it was rather late and the sky was darkening, the temperature was comfortably high as they walked side by side down the empty sidewalk.

Louis was laughing at a rather mean joke Harry had just told and he playfully reached out to smack Harry’s arm. Harry caught his hand, however, and told him that violence would solve nothing, a stern look on his face as he spoke. Louis had laughed harder at that, but as Harry didn’t let go of his hand and instead entwined their fingers together, Louis’ laugh died down and he began smiling widely.

They walked in silence the remaining distance back to Harry’s place, a comfortable silence between them as their fingers stayed entwined the entire way. Even as Harry locked them into his apartment, his hand didn’t let go of Louis and Louis couldn’t help but wish that he would never have to let go. Holding Harry’s hand felt good, and it felt right, and it gave Louis butterflies. He hadn’t felt anything like that in ages, if he had actually ever felt anything like that at all before, and now that he felt it, he didn’t want to let the feeling go. 

Harry led him down the hallway and only came to a stop when they reached the door leading into the guest room. He turned around so that he was facing Louis, though he still refused to let go of Louis’ hand.

“I had a really great time tonight.” He said, smiling softly as he gazed into Louis’ stunning blue eyes. Louis returned his smile, his fingers giving Harry’s a gentle squeeze.

“So did I.” Louis said truthfully. “It was the best date I’ve ever been on, to be honest.” He continued.

His words made Harry’s smile widen and he took a small step closer, shortening the distance between their bodies.

“Same with me.” Harry admitted. They stood in silence after that, just taking each other in, their breaths mingling together because of the short distance between them, and the silence would only be broken by some sort of action or words.

Louis settled for the latter.

“I want to ask you to come inside with me…” Louis said, his voice only an octave louder than a whisper. Harry didn’t say anything, sensing there was going to be a “but” in there somewhere and instead of pressing, he waited for Louis to continue on his own accord. Louis bit his lip.

“But I really think this can be something real. Something that will last. And I don’t want to rush it in case that might ruin it.” Louis explained, and the regret was apparent in his words as he spoke. Harry, however, smiled in understanding.

“Then we’ll wait. No sex on the first date.” He said, simply. It was no secret he wanted to come into Louis’ room with him, but he would easily admit Louis had a point. Rushing things tended to ruin things, and Harry wasn’t ready to risk that. Not with Louis. Not with what they could have together if they just did it right.

“Are you sure?” Louis asked.

“I’m sure.” Harry assured him, raising a hand to gently cup Louis’ cheek. Louis nodded his head as he leaned into Harry’s touch, relaxing visibly at Harry’s reassuring words.

A moment passed where they just stayed like that.

“Though, maybe just a kiss would suffice for tonight?” Harry asked, his voice hopeful and the smile that spread across Louis’ lips made Harry’s heart skip a beat in his chest.

“I’m sure a kiss wouldn’t hurt…” Louis replied, his eyes sparkling as he spoke. Harry was momentarily reminded of the Lady Antebellum song, “Just A Kiss”, and couldn’t help but feel that it fit their situation quite well. However, now was not the time to think of song lyrics.

So, instead, Harry leaned in and softly pressed his lips to Louis’, his hand moving from Louis’ cheek to the back of his head, gently tangling in the brown hair. Louis’ lips instantly moved back against his, his lips parting open and allowing Harry’s tongue to slip inside.

Louis tasted of beer and steak, but also of something sweeter that couldn’t be explained as anything but the simple taste of Louis himself and Harry found himself moaning softly at the sensation as his tongue twirled with Louis’, dragging a moan from Louis’ lips as well that Harry swallowed back. 

Louis’ hands came to wrap around Harry’s neck and Louis pressed their bodies together, his free arm winding itself tight around Louis’ waist to keep him firmly against himself. 

The kiss heated up fairly quickly and it wasn’t long before Louis was subtly rocking his hips slightly forward and Harry was meeting his movements with his own. It was then Harry remembered Louis’ words and reluctantly pulled away, panting and gasping for air as he leaned his forehead against Louis’, who also appeared to struggle with getting air to his lungs.

“We said we’d wait…” Harry whispered, his arm tightening slightly around Louis’ waist. Louis let out a groan, whether it was out of frustration or want, Harry didn’t know. But he quite liked the sound nevertheless.

“I know…” He whispered back, and Harry could just hear the way Louis was struggling to keep himself from telling him to forget what they had said and demand him to come to bed with him, and just as Louis was about to say just that, Harry pressed another kiss to his lips, this one soft, but chaste before he pulled away and took a step back.

“Good night, Louis.” Harry said, offering a soft smile. Louis took a deep breath to pull himself together a little before he returned the smile.

“Sweet dreams, Harry.” He replied and with that, he disappeared into the guest room before he lost what little he had left of his self-control and jumped Harry right there in the hallway.

Harry waited for the door to drift shut before he slowly turned and headed back to his own room.

It seemed like such a stupid and pointless scenario to have to jerk himself off that night when there was someone he knew he could have just down the hall from him, Harry thought as he laid on his back in bed, his hand gripping his cock tight and stroking fast, eyes closed as he tried to imagine the feel of Louis’ lips against his. But he knew that it was the right thing to do, and that it would be worth it in the end.

Down the hall, Louis was nothing but a panting mess as he desperately tried to get himself to reach his climax, cursing himself in his mind for being so damn reasonable and not wanting to do anything more than kiss on the first date, and cursing Harry for being so goddamned irresistible.


	9. Chapter 9

“Are you ever going to tell me?” Matt’s words made Harry raise an eyebrow as he turned around from the scarves he was folding at one of the tables in the supporter shop.

“Am I ever going to tell you what?” Harry asked, raising a confused eyebrow. Matt rolled his eyes at that and gave Harry’s arm a playful punch.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Harry.” He pressed, giving Harry one of his ‘you-know-damn-well-what-I’m-talking-about’ looks. When Harry however returned it with one of his own ‘I-really-have-no-idea-what-you’re-on-about’ looks, Mark gave a smirk.

“You haven’t told me how Louis is!” He said, his words doing little to ease Harry’s confusion.

“Louis is fine?” He tried, turning back to the scarves, frowning at the stack of Everton-scarves in front of him. 

As a Liverpool fan, Harry really hated Everton.

Matt gave a frustrated groan, punching Harry’s arm again.

“That’s not what I meant, you knobhead! I meant, you haven’t told me how he is. You know, how he is in bed.” Matt said, clarifying exactly what it was he was referring to. 

“I haven’t told you because I don’t know.” Louis simply replied, attempting to seem unaffected by Matt’s question, though he was unable to keep a light blush from creeping up the sides of his neck. 

At the admittance to not knowing what Louis was like in bed, Matt’s jaw dropped open in disbelief.

“Are you kidding me?!” He began. “He’s been staying with you for what? Three weeks now? And you haven’t slept with him yet?!” 

Matt’s voice was so loud that a few customers turned to stare at them in question and Harry’s cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. Snarling, he turned to face Matt again, shushing at him.

“Shhh, keep your voice down, you idiot! There are children around!” Harry hissed, glaring up at Matt who was almost a head taller than he was. 

Matt’s cheeks flushed slightly at the realisation of just how loud he had been dawned on him, and he nodded his head.

“But no, I haven’t slept with him yet.” Harry finally answered Matt’s question, making sure to keep his voice down as he spoke. 

“Harry, what’s wrong with you? For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve never gone more than two dates without sleeping with someone! And you’ve been on how many dates with Louis?” Matt pressed, and Harry couldn’t help but frown at the way he put it.

He was right, though. Harry had never gone more than two dates without ending up in bed with his partners. But with Louis it was different. He didn’t want to rush things like that, because like Louis had said, what they had could actually turn out to be something real. Something that would last. And Harry treasured what he had with Louis too much to be willing to do anything that might compromise it. 

It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted to sleep with Louis, though. Far from it. He was actually longing for it to happen.

“Well, counting the times we’ve only stayed in to cook and watch a movie… Eleven dates.” 

Since their first date, Harry and Louis had been on dates every night since. They had gone out to the cinema, where they had spent most of the time making out instead of paying attention to the film. They had gone out to dinners, which had ended with some under-the-table action, and they had just stayed in and cooked together before they had relaxed on the couch with a movie. (Which of course meant they had watched the first ten minutes of the movies before they had ended up making out and rubbing desperately against each other.) 

But it had never gone further than that. One of them had always pulled away just before something more happened and they had both been reduced to taking cold showers or jerking off in bed while cursing the other one’s name afterwards. Frustrating as it was, Harry knew the wait would be worth it in the long run.

“Eleven dates… Eleven dates and you still haven’t slept with him! Have you lost your mind?!" Matt sounded as frustrated about the newly shared information as Harry was, but Harry didn’t get the chance to reply as another voice interrupted them.

“You had a mind to lose in the first place?” 

The familiar sound of Louis’ voice coming from behind him made Harry jump slightly, spinning around to face him. Louis was smiling at him, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his beige pants, the red shirt he wore with it hugging his torso and arms in all the right places.

Harry couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“Louis!” He said with enthusiasm, before he remembered the conversation he had just been having with Matt. “How much of that did you hear?” He quickly continued, a light flush colouring his cheeks.

“Just that you’ve apparently lost your mind.” Louis said, his reply making a rush of relief make its way through Harry’s body. 

“Oh.” He exclaimed, his relief apparently noticeable in his voice as Louis raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Are you okay?” He asked, and Harry was quick to nod his head. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Harry assured him, giving Louis a soft smile which apparently did the trick as Louis’ eyebrow sank down to its usual position again. 

“Good.” Louis said as he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Harry’s lips. “Are you ready to go?” 

“Oh, aren’t you two just adorable!” Matt teased, clapping his hands and receiving a smack over the back of his head by Harry. “Ow!”

Harry then looked at the clock hanging on the wall behind the register, noticing that it was now 9:00pm, meaning his shift was over thanks for the fact that Matt had been willing to cover the last couple of hours for him.

“I’m ready.” Harry said, reaching down to take a hold of Louis hand, who entwined their fingers with a smile. With his other hand, Harry reached up and smacked Matt upside the head again.

“Ow! What the hell was that for?!” Matt complained, reaching up a hand to press the palm of it against the back of his head. Harry merely grinned at him.

“For the comment you were about to make.” Harry explained, not giving Matt the chance to reply as he tugged at Louis’ hand and pulled him along with him out of the supporter shop.

As the two of them headed out of the store and down the street towards Harry’s car, Louis nudged Harry’s side playfully with his elbow.

“You know, violence never solves anything.” He pointed out, a smirk playing on his lips as he spoke.

Harry chuckle as he pulled his car keys out of his pocket with his free hand, giving Louis’ hand a gentle squeeze with his other.

“It is when your friend is an idiot.” Harry argued, opening the door on the passenger side of the door for Louis. 

“Hmm… You have a point.” Louis agreed, letting go of Harry’s hand and tiptoeing up to press another soft kiss to Harry’s lips before getting into the car.

Harry couldn’t help but grin as he watched Louis stand on his toes, finding it absolutely adorable.

“It’s cute how tiny you are.” Harry teased as he closed the door for Louis before walking around the car and getting in on the driver side.

Harry’s words made Louis frown as he put on his seatbelt and he stuck his tongue out at him.

“I am barely three centimetres shorter than you are, Harry. That doesn’t make me tiny.” Louis pointed out, his face serious, but the slightly amused tone of his voice betrayed the seriousness his face wore. 

The grin was still present on Harry’s face as he put on his own seatbelt and put the key in the ignition, starting the engine and backing out of the parking lot.

“Yes, it does.” He said. Louis only huffed in response, which made Harry’s grin widen even more.

\-----------------------

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Harry made no attempt to hide the obvious doubt and concern in his voice as he spoke, standing leaned back against the kitchen counter next to Louis as the other man appeared to be fighting with (and losing) a rolling pin and what was supposed to be a pizza dough.

Louis had insisted on cooking tonight for the first time since he came to visit Harry, despite the fact that he couldn’t cook a decent meal to save his life. And now that he was desperately wrestling with the pizza dough and the rolling pin, Harry couldn’t help the fact that he thought this was a really bad idea. 

With a concentrated frown on his face, Louis finally managed to get the dough to look somewhat decent.

“Don’t worry, I’ve done this before.” Louis assured him, leaving out the fact that the last time he had tried to make pizza, he had almost set fire to his own apartment. 

Harry raised an unconvinced eyebrow, folding his arms across his chest as he watched with obvious worry as Louis began putting tomato sauce on the dough.

“Have you?” He asked and Louis turned his head to stick his tongue out at him.

“Yes, I have! Now shush and watch the master work his magic!” Louis said, proceeding to grab a handful of beef and spreading the pieces out on the pieces.

“I would, but you’re in my kitchen.” Harry mumbled, grinning as Louis flipped him off without taking his eyes off the pizza. 

Harry watched as Louis topped the pizza with onions as well as the beef before practically putting a tower of cheese on top of it. Pleased with his work, he turned to look at Harry. 

“Get me a coke from the fridge, will you?” He asked and Harry gave a nod, pushing himself away from the counter and crossing the room to get to the fridge. 

While he was at it, Louis looked around on the counter for an oven tray suitable. However, he found nothing but a muffin tray and decided that surely that would work just fine. With a proud smile, he moved the pizza onto the muffin tray and put it into the oven, having completely forgotten to reheat it, but thinking it didn’t really matter as he put the oven to what he assumed was a decent amount of degrees.

He then felt Harry come up behind him with his coke and he couldn’t help but smile as Harry pressed a soft kiss to the side of his neck while reaching around him to hand him a glass bottle of coke, the cap already off.

“Thank you.” Louis said, lifting the bottle and bringing it to his lip, taking a big gulp.

Harry’s arms found their way around his waist from behind as he pressed another kiss to the side of his neck.

“Mhm.” Was all he muttered out against Louis’ skin, letting his tongue poke out to trace a line up the side of Louis’ neck to his ear, sucking the earlobe gently into his mouth.

Louis let out a moan at that and put his bottle of coke down on the counter, his eyes drifting shut as his hands came up to rest over Harry’s on his lower stomach.

“You taste yummy.” Harry whispered as he let Louis’ earlobe slip from between his lips and he began kissing his way down the side of Louis’ neck again, occasionally stopping to poke his tongue out to lick at the soft skin, moaning at the taste that could not be identified as anything but pure Louis.

A shiver went down Louis’ spine and he felt his own body beginning to react to the attention Harry was giving his neck. His cock gave a twitch within the confines of his boxers and pants before it started to slowly grow hard.

Wanting to know if Harry was reacting the way he was, Louis pushed back slightly against him, letting out a soft groan as he felt the obvious bulge in Harry’s pants press against his ass.

Moving his hands from where they rested on top of Harry’s on his lower stomach, Louis reached forward with one to grip the edge of the counter in front of him while the other went up to tangle itself in Harry’s dark curls as he pushed his hips backwards. He was rewarded with a quiet growl from Harry and Harry returned the movement by pushing his own hips hard against Louis’ ass. 

The movement made Louis gasp and finding he quite enjoyed that sound, Harry’s hands found their way up under Louis’ shirt and made their way all the way up Louis’ stomach to his nipples, which he took between his fingers and pinched lightly. 

A loud gasp followed by an almost desperate groan erupted from somewhere deep within Louis’ chest and he grind himself back hard against Harry’s now rock-hard bulge. His erection was painfully hard and throbbing in his pants, and he had to use all of his willpower to not come as Louis gasped out two words Harry had been dying to hear.

“Take me.” 

Harry did not need to be asked twice.

Letting go of Louis’ nipples, Harry pulled his hands out from under Louis’ shirt and grabbed a hold of his hips, spinning him around and leaning in to press his lips hard against Louis’ in desperation. Louis attempted to lean back against the counter and pull Harry with him, but despite his own need, Harry wasn’t about to let their first time be in the kitchen. 

Using his hold on Louis’ hips, he pulled him back from the counter, turned him around and began walking him backwards out of the kitchen just as his tongue made its way past Louis’ unresisting lips and into his mouth. A loud moan was heard as their tongues met and twirled around each other, and Harry wasn’t sure if it came from him or Louis, or even both. Not that it mattered, anyway, as he continued to walk Louis down the hallway towards his bedroom. 

The door was closed and Harry had to let go of Louis’ hips with one hand to reach past him and open it, but as soon as the offending obstacle was out of the way, his hand once again returned to Louis’ hip as he directed him back towards his bed.

Louis came to a stop when the back of his knees hit the edge of the bed and only then did he pull away from Harry’s lips. About to protest, Harry opened his mouth, but he quickly forgot whatever it was he had intended to say when Louis reached down, grabbed the hem of his own shirt and pulled it up and over his head, throwing it to the floor. 

Harry was now given a glorious view of Louis’ perfectly toned arms, chest and stomach, and he hadn’t been able to keep himself from licking his lips at the gorgeous sight before him even if he had tried. 

“Like what you see?” Louis asked, his voice mirroring the way Harry’s had sounded that time he had walked out of the kitchen in nothing but a towel and Louis had seen him. Had it been at any other time, Harry would have been able to come up with some cheeky reply, but right now all he could bring himself to do was nod his head.

His silent reply seemed to be what Louis had wanted to get as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Harry’s, his tongue sneaking past Harry’s slightly separated lips to explore the inside of his mouth. 

Realising that Louis was still wearing way too much clothes for his liking, completely oblivious to the fact that he himself was still fully dressed, he reached between them and quickly had the button and zipper of Louis’ pants undone. He had them pulled down to Louis’ knees in one fluid motion along with the offending material of Louis’ boxers, and they slid down all the way to Louis’ ankles on their own accord when Harry had let go.

How Louis had managed to get Harry’s pants open while he stepped out of his pants and boxers and somehow managed to get his socks off as well, Harry was unsure, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Copying Harry’s movement from mere seconds ago, Louis pushed both Harry’s jeans and his boxers down, and he let out a satisfied groan against Harry’s lips when their now free and fully erected members brushed against each other for the very first time.

His socks came off in the process as Harry stepped out of the clothes piled at his ankles and he pulled away from Louis’ lips in order to breathe and finally rid himself of the only piece of clothing either of them were now wearing; his shirt. The fact that he ripped it in the process of getting it off was something he could worry about later. Right now, all he was interested in was getting Louis on his back on his bed, and he did just that.

Pushing Louis backwards, Harry watched with a satisfied smirk as Louis fell down onto the bed on his back and Harry was rewarded with the most perfect view he had ever seen in his life ( _and Harry had been at the top of the Eiffel Tower and he’d been on the London Eye at night, thank you very much_ ): Louis Tomlinson, the man he had desired, longed for and wanted ever since he had come across his profile on that dating website, spread out naked on his back on Harry’s bed. It was all Harry could do not to pounce on that beautiful body beneath him.

Instead, he got onto his knees on the bed and leaned down over Louis, pressing their lips together in a slow kiss that was full of passion and want, their tongues meeting in Louis’ mouth and making soft moan escape from the both of them as Harry pressed down against Louis, making their erections brush together again.

Unable to help himself, Harry reached down between them and wrapped his fingers around both of their members, pressing them together and stroking them slowly. The action made Louis arch his back slightly in an attempt to thrust up into Harry’s hand and against his cock, and Harry was surprised he didn’t come right there and then. 

“Harry…” His name was all but breathed out in a moan and Harry couldn’t hold back a moan of his own at the sound of it. He continued to stroke both of their erections and he was about to just finish them both off like that when Louis breathed again.

“Harry…” _God, his name sounded so good on Louis’ lips like that_.

“Take me… Please…” 

The ‘please’ wasn’t really needed, as Harry wasn’t about to protest to Louis’ wishes, but it did spring him faster into action to hear just how badly Louis wanted this – to hear just how _desperate_ Louis was for this, how desperate Louis was for _him_. 

So with only the slightest hint of reluctance, Harry let go of their erections and shifted slightly on the bed so that he was able to lean over to his bedside table, open the drawer and pull out a tube of lube and a condom.

Louis had his eyes shut in pleasure and his lips were slightly parted, but his eyes opened once he heard the sound of Harry popping open the bottle of lube. Louis watched as Harry spread a generous amount of it onto his fingers before bringing his lube-coated hands down between Louis’ now spread legs.

Harry lifted his gaze to search Louis’ face for any hints of hesitance or uncertainty, anything at all that would show that this wasn’t exactly what Louis wanted. But Harry found only pleasure, desire, want and a hint of desperation on Louis’ face and finally decided they had waited long enough.

He used his first finger to gently circle Louis’ tight entrance for a moment, massaging the muscles there until he felt them begin to relax at his touch. Then he let the finger slide inside, all the way down to the last knuckle and Louis let out a quiet hiss.

Louis wasn’t a virgin, but he hadn’t had sex in almost 18 months and though he had kept himself satisfied during that time, it was only rarely he had done more than just jack himself off. So the sensation of being filled again was strange and he needed some time to get used to it. But the slight pain subsided rather quickly and he gave a slight nod.

“I’m okay.” Louis assured Harry, offering him a small smile.

Harry allowed himself another moment to search Louis’ face for any traces of uncertainty, but once again he found none. Nodding his head, he gently pulled his finger back, only to push it back in with a second one. 

Giving Louis a moment to adjust to the feeling, Harry leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Louis’ lower stomach, waiting patiently as Louis once again relaxed around his fingers. Only then did he slowly start to move his in and out slowly, carefully watching Louis’ expression for any signs of pain. 

It was uncomfortable at first, having two fingers inside of him again, but Louis quickly made himself relaxed and the discomfort quickly gave way to pleasure as Harry scissored his fingers to open him up. Harry then added a third finger and pushed all three digits as deep inside of Louis as they would go, and a soft cry slipped past Louis’ lips as Harry’s fingers brushed against that bundle of nerves inside of him that made his entire body tremble in pleasure and it made Louis clench tight around Harry’s fingers.

It was all too much and far from enough all at the same time, and when Harry began thrusting his fingers in and out at a steady pace, curling his fingers and brushing against that heavenly spot with every movement, Louis couldn’t take it anymore.

He let out a mewling cry and arched his back in pleasure, choking out.

“I’m ready… God, Harry, I’m ready… Just take me, please.” 

It was all Harry needed to hear and with a soft moan of his own at feeling Louis be so tight around him combined with the sight of seeing Louis so pleasured and desperate, Harry pulled his fingers out, making Louis gasp at the sudden empty feeling inside of him.

Reaching for the condom, Harry was stopped as he felt Louis curl his fingers around his wrist and he moved his gaze up to Louis’ face, raising a confused eyebrow.

“Are you clean?” Louis asked, breathless.

Harry had to blink his eyes a few times before his mind actually registered Louis’ question.

“Yes.” He replied. 

Like any reasonable human being, Harry got himself checked for any STD’s regularly and his most recent check, like every other check he had ever had, had come back to show that he was perfectly healthy and not affected by any disease in any way. 

Louis nodded his head.

“So am I. So don’t you dare put that thing on. I want to feel it when you come, and not through some rubber.” Louis continued, his fingers uncurling from around Harry’s wrist and grabbing the condom, throwing it to the floor.

His words made Harry bite his lip in want and he couldn’t do more than nod his head as he instead reached for the lube again. Putting a generous amount of it in the palm of his hand, Harry wrapped his hand around his own throbbing member and gave himself a few painfully slow strokes, making sure he coated every inch of his cock. 

Deeming himself ready, Harry shifted slightly in his position on his knees between Louis’ legs, leaning a little forward and positioning himself against Louis’ tight entrance. He let go of his own member just as he thrust his hips forward, pushing the head of his erection past the tight ring of muscles and inside of Louis. 

Harry’s cock was a lot bigger than his three fingers combined and Louis let out a gasp of pleasure and slight pain as he tried to adjust.

“Oh God…” He managed to choke out, his fingers fisting themselves into the sheets. Harry waited patiently as Louis adjusted to the size and feel of him, and he was grateful that Louis wasn’t a virgin and didn’t need that much time.

When a soft moan slipped past Louis’ lips, Harry took that as a sign to start moving and he did just that. Pushing his hips forward again, he slid all the way inside of Harry with a loud groan at the intense tightness that surrounded him.

“Holy fuck, you’re tight…” Harry gasped, leaning down over Louis and capturing his lips in a deep kiss. Louis responded eagerly to the kiss, pushing his tongue into Harry’s mouth just as he tried to push back against Harry, urging him to move.

Harry took the hint and began to thrust at a slow, steady pace, pulling almost all the way out before thrusting back in, making cries of pleasure to erupt from both of them, only to be swallowed by each other’s mouths. 

Louis untangled his hands from the sheets and instead lifted them to fist them tight in Harry’s curls as Harry’s tongue mirrored the movement of his hips, thrusting into his mouth in time with the way Harry’s cock thrust into Louis. 

Grabbing a hold of Louis’ hip with one hand to keep him steady as Harry continued to thrust into him, Harry reached between them to grab a tight hold of Louis’ throbbing and leaking cock, stroking it in time with the movement of his hips.

Pulling away from Louis’ lips, Harry dipped his head in order to suck a mark into the side of Louis’ neck, his action causing a loud moan to slip past Louis’ lips. Harry shifted slightly, causing him to enter Louis from a slightly different angle which made his cock push against Louis’ prostate. 

Louis cried out in pleasure, his back arching into an almost perfect bow as he clenched tight around Harry.

“Harry! Right there! Oh God, do that again!” Louis gasped, his hands tightening in Harry’s hair.

Doing as he was told, Harry angled for that spot again and again, moaning loudly against Louis’ skin at the way Louis clenched to heavenly tight around him every time he hit that spot deep inside of him, making them both tremble in pleasure.

Wrapping his legs around Harry’s waist, Louis began to push back against Harry to meet each and every one of his movements, gasping and moaning in pleasure as Harry continued to hit his prostate with each and every thrust. 

Sucking another mark into Louis’ neck, Harry gave a loud groan as Louis clenched particularly hard around him and he felt his balls pull up tight, knowing he wouldn’t be able to last for much longer.

“Louis…” He moaned, his words muffled against the skin on Louis’ neck. “Louis, I’m gonna… Fuck… I’m gonna come…” 

His words was enough to push Louis over the edge, and he only barely managed to choke out a desperate “Me too” before he cried Harry’s name at the top of his lungs just as his orgasm hit him harder than it ever had before, making him come all over Harry’s hand and both their stomachs.

As he came, Louis automatically tightened around Harry, the unbelievable pressure around his cock being enough to push Harry over the edge as well as he came with a broken cry of Louis’ name of his own against Louis’ neck, his hips bucking out of rhythm as he continued to thrust into Louis through his orgasm, emptying himself completely inside of him.

The feel of Harry’s warm cum inside of him made Louis moan in pleasure as he finally began coming down from his high, and Harry continued to move inside of him until the last of his energy drained from his body, making him collapse on top of Louis with a gasp.

Louis’ legs fell back against the bed as he settled under Harry’s weight, gasping for air underneath him. 

Untangling his hands from Harry’s hair, Louis let his hands run gently down Harry’s now sweaty back and he couldn’t keep a wide smile off his face as he struggled to regain his breath. 

“That was…” He began, unable to finish his sentence as he felt Harry’s heavy breathing against his neck.

“So worth waiting for.” Harry finished for him, and Louis could feel the smile on Harry’s lips as he spoke against his neck, which in return only made his own smile grow wider.

“Mhm. _So_ worth waiting for.” Louis agreed.

Harry took a deep breath before pulling back from Louis’ neck, lifting his head to be able to gaze down into those beautiful blue eyes. 

“I love you.” He said before he could stop himself.

His words took Louis off guard and his eyes widened in surprise as he stared up at him. Harry instantly regretted his words, knowing Louis must think it was too soon for that. After all, they had only known each other for about four months, and despite having spent every day and night together for the past three weeks, Harry was sure Louis thought it was too soon. 

He was about to apologise, to make an excuse that the words just slipped out and that Louis should just forget that he had ever heard them when a soft smile spread across Louis’ face that suddenly made Harry forget what he was about to say. _Damn Louis and his perfect smile_.

“I love you too.” Louis replied, moving one hand from Harry’s back to gently cup his cheek.

Louis’ words made Harry relax visibly and he couldn’t stop the wide grin that spread across his face as he leaned down and pressed a soft, loving kiss to Louis’ lips which Louis returned without protest. 

Pulling back, Harry was about to say something else, about to explain how happy he was and how he couldn’t be more at peace with everything when the sudden smell of something burning made its way to his nose. It was only then Harry remembered the pizza.

“Shit!” Harry almost shouted, shifting off of Louis which in turn made him slip out of him, making him groan as he got out of bed and grabbed his boxers from the floor, pulling them on before darting out of the room.

Louis moaned in protest as he felt Harry pull out of him and as he felt Harry’s cum trickle out of him, but when he too smelled something burning, he quickly got off the bed as well, ignoring the slight soreness he felt as he moved around and grabbed his own boxers from the floor, pulling them on and hurrying after Harry out of the bedroom, down the hallway and into the kitchen.

The room was covered in a thick layer of smoke, but thankfully nothing was actually on fire. Harry opened the oven, coughing and choking slightly as he grabbed a pair of oven mitts from the drawer before taking out the tray with the burned-beyond-edibility pizza and putting it down on top of the oven, pushing the oven door shut with his knee. 

Louis walked over to stand next to Harry, looking down at the completely black pizza and frowning to himself.

“I don’t think we can eat that.” He said, matter-of-factly, and Harry turned his head to look at him with both eyebrows raised.

“You think?” He asked before turning his attention back to the pizza. It was only then he realised what Louis had put the pizza on. “You put it on a muffin tray?!” He asked, staring at Louis in disbelief. 

Louis blushed, biting his lip and giving a shy smile.

“I didn’t think it would matter.” He said honestly.

Reaching into the nearest drawer, Harry pulled out a spatula and pushed it under the burnt pizza, lifting it and revealing the bumps in the burnt dough caused by the holes in the muffin tray. 

“Your pizza has twelve boobs, Louis!” Harry exclaimed, his voice defeated as he stared at Louis in disbelief again.

Louis merely smiled shyly at him. 

“Oops?” He offered, at which Harry burst into fits of laughter, dropping the spatula and reaching out, wrapping his arms tight around Louis’ waist, pulling him close.

“I’m never letting you cook again.” Harry said, leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to the tip of Louis’ nose.

Louis grinned and wrapped his arms tight around Harry’s neck.

“To be fair, none of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t seduced me.” Louis pointed out, watching as Harry shook his head and grinned back at him.

“You have a point. Though your pizza still would have had boobs.” Harry remarked, as it had not been his fault Louis had put the pizza on a muffin tray.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you don’t have a regular tray!” Louis pouted.

Harry raised an eyebrow at that and, without letting go of Louis with one arm, reached out and opened the second drawer by the oven, revealing a drawer filled with different oven trays more suitable for making pizza than a muffin tray. 

Louis looked down into the drawer for a moment before looking up at Harry again.

“Oh.” Was all he said.

“Yes. Oh.” Harry replied, shaking his head and smiling as he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Louis’ lips, which Louis returned with a soft, satisfied hum.

“I guess we’ll order takeout then.” Harry said when he pulled back. “What do you want to have?” 

Louis allowed a moment to pass to think the question over before replying.

“Anything that isn’t pizza.” He grinned, his words making Harry chuckle. 

“Anything that isn’t pizza it is.” Harry replied, kissing Louis again before reluctantly letting go of him and stepping back, picking up his phone from the counter while Louis made his way over to the fridge to get something to drink, refusing to drink the remains of his coke that now probably tasted more like smoke than coke.

Harry dialled the number to a Chinese restaurant just down the street, looking down at Louis’ burnt pizza again and unable to keep himself from laughing. 

If Louis ever insisted on cooking again, Harry would make sure to have a fire extinguisher nearby, just in case.


	10. Chapter 10

Waking up in the middle of the night and noticing that he’s not sleeping alone was not something Louis Tomlinson was used to, having spent over a year and a half not on his own, not having had anyone in bed with him since his last relationship. No, waking up in the middle of the night and realizing that there was, in fact, somebody else in bed with him, was definitely not something Louis was used to. Which was the excuse he would use to explain his frantic and panicked reaction when the morning came, and also the explanation he would use when he would attempt to deeply apologise for the bump that would soon appear on the back of Harry’s head. 

As Louis awoke from a very comfortable slumber for no particular reason, he was surprised and slightly frightened to feel the warmth of another body pressed up against his back. What was even more frightening was the feel of strong arms encircling his waist from behind, almost like a predator trapping its prey. 

_Oh God. He was being kidnapped._

As the seemingly only logical explanation as to why he was in the embrace of someone else made itself known in Louis’ mind, his survival instincts kicked in immediately, and he found himself squirming and cursing under his breath as he attempted to get whoever it was that was holding him to let go. His attempts appeared to be futile, however, as the arms only tightened their hold around him the more he tried to fight them. 

Though the arms circling his waist seemed to be alive, the rest of the body he could feel behind him didn’t budge even an inch. His attacker must either be sound asleep or drugged, Louis’ mind reasoned with him, so Louis did the only thing he could think of at the late hour of the night. He shouted. Loudly.

“GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!”

That seemed to be enough to bring his attacker to life and as Louis continued to squirm, the arms around him let go and it only took a second before Louis could hear the sound of something hitting the edge of what was most likely the bedside table before the sound was followed by a loud ‘thud’ as the attacker’s body probably hit the floor. 

Louis’ next instinct was of course to flee and get him out of the danger, but as he moved to get up, he glanced over the edge of the bed to take a look at his attacker, thinking it wouldn’t hurt to see him so he could later identify him. 

It was only when he spotted a man that couldn’t possibly be an attacker of any kind lying flat on his back on the floor, one hand clutching the back of the nest of messy curls on the top of his head that Louis realised who it was he had been in the embrace of. And it took another second before he remembered what had happened the night before.

Oh. 

_Oh!_

The realisation hit him like a ton of bricks and if Louis was absolutely certain that he had never moved as fast as he moved to get off the bed and kneel by Harry’s side.

“Oh shit, Harry, I’m so sorry.” Louis exclaimed, frowning at his own tired stupidity, reaching out and pulling Harry slowly up into an upright position.

The movement made Harry flinch and he clutched tighter at the back of his head, rubbing the sore spot there. Louis’ frown deepened as a sting of guilt made itself known in the pit of his stomach.

“What the hell was that?” Harry asked, opening his eyes and looking at Louis, his hand still rubbing the spot on the back of his head. 

“I’m just not used to sleeping in bed with someone else and in my tired state, I panicked and thought someone were trying to kidnap me. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you hit your head against the floor.” Louis genuinely apologised, making no attempt to hide the obvious regret on his face as he spoke. His words were apparently somewhat amusing to Harry, because he gave a slight smile and gently shook his head.

“After last night, you woke up, thinking you were being kidnapped when you felt someone in bed with you? Really, Louis?” Harry chuckled, which made Louis blush.

“My memory wasn’t the best when I woke up… I didn’t really remember what we did last night when I first woke up…” Louis admitted, feeling slightly ashamed of having forgotten the night before, despite his loss of memory only having been momentary. 

“Was I that bad?” Harry asked.

“What? No! Good God, no! Jesus, Harry, you were amazing! You were perfect! Last night was perfect, I swear! I just…” Louis’ panicked rambled was cut off as Harry leaned forward and pressed his lips gently against Louis’, effectively shutting him up.

The rude interruption was not one Louis minded at all and as Harry’s tongue swiped across his lower lip, everything Louis had planned on saying was suddenly wiped from his mind. 

The kiss ended way too quickly in Louis’ opinion and he failed to hold back a soft whimper of protest when Harry pulled away, a smile playing across his lips.

“I was joking, you know.” Harry said, making Louis’ cheeks redden even more.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” Harry laughed, reaching up to run a hand through Louis’ messy hair. “And it was the nightstand, by the way.” 

Leaning against Harry’s touch, Louis raised a confused eyebrow.

“Sorry?” 

“I hit my head against the nightstand. Not the floor.” Harry explained, still smiling as he spoke, which Louis really didn’t think was fair as the sting of guilt in the pit of his stomach only became so much stronger when he saw Harry smile that gorgeous smile of his after the pain Louis had accidentally caused him. 

“I’m really sorry.” He apologised again, to which Harry only rolled his eyes.

“I know. And it’s fine.” 

Louis was about to protest, but Harry got to his feet before he could do that and reached out a hand, which Louis took without question and allowed Harry to pull him back up to his feet. 

“Now, let’s go back to sleep. And try not to push me out of it this time.” Harry teased, pulling Louis along with him as he got back under the covers. Louis failed to hold back a smile of his own at that and he gave an agreeing nod.

“I’ll try. Promise.” He said as he pressed his own body flush against Harry’s, his arms coming to wrap themselves around Harry’s waist. Harry wrapped his own arms around Harry and leaned in to press a gentle kiss to his lips.

“Good. Sweet dreams, Louis.” Harry said, his eyes drifting shut as he ignored the throbbing at the back of his head.

“You too, Harry.” Louis replied and within minutes, the pair of them were already sound asleep again.

\-------------------------

The next time Louis woke up, it was to an empty bed and the annoyingly loud sound of his phone ringing. 

Blinking his eyes to adjust to the light in the room, Louis glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It was 1:45pm, which surprised him as he didn’t know he had it in him to sleep that long. Maybe having sex for the first time in over a year and a half was more exhausting than he would have thought it would be. 

Reaching out to grab his phone that was still going off obnoxiously loudly, Louis pressed the “Answer call” button after seeing on the display that it was Zayn.

“Hello?” Louis practically yawned into the phone.

“ _Did you just wake up?_ ” Zayn asked, his voice dripping with surprise.

“No. You just woke me up.” Louis corrected him, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

“ _What the fuck are you doing sleeping at this hour? Did you stay up all night or something?_ ” Zayn wanted to know, and Louis took a moment to consider how he should answer that.

“Well… No, not exactly.” He replied, because he and Harry had only stayed up until a little after midnight, and the little incident in the middle of the night had only kept them up for about 15 minutes.

“ _Explain._ ” Zayn practically demanded, and Louis told him all about his failed attempt to make pizza, how Harry had seduced him in the middle of it and the way he had made Harry hit his head against the bedside table in the middle of the night. 

When he had finished with his story, he wasn’t exactly surprised when Zayn excited shouted: “ _So you finally fucked him!_ ” into the phone. Louis failed to supress a chuckle at that as he shook his head to himself.

“Well, actually, _he_ fucked _me_.” Louis corrected him.

“ _Whatever! At least you finally got laid! Congratulations!_ ” The excitement in Zayn’s voice was almost frightening and Louis was about to question why he was so excited about it when he heard Liam’s voice in the background.

_“Who are you congratulating and what for?”_

_“Louis got laid last night!”_

_“Really? Well, it was about time!”_

_“I know, right? Can’t believe Harry actually wanted to sleep with him, though.”_

“Guys! Still on the other end of the line here!” Louis complained into the phone, rolling his eyes as he listened to the pair of them. There was the sound of laughter for a moment before Zayn’s voice once again returned on the phone.

“ _Sorry about that. But still, I’m happy for ya, mate! Can’t believe you made him hit his head, though._ ” He said, making Louis frown at the memory. 

“ _Wait, who made who hit his head?_ ” Liam’s voice was once again apparent in the background and Zayn instantly began re-telling the story Louis had just told him.

“Right, I’ll leave you to retelling that story. I’ll give you guys a call later.” Louis said and hung up before Zayn had the chance to reply. Not that he thought Zayn had even heard him with how excited and caught up he was in telling Liam all about how Louis had woken up in the middle of the night, panicked and made Harry fall out of bed and hit his head against the bedside table.

Putting his phone back down on the nightstand, Louis got out of bed and walked out of Harry’s bedroom wearing only the pair of boxers he had slept in and headed for the kitchen, assuming that was where Harry was, judging by the delicious smell of bacon coming from there.

His assumption proved to be right as he walked into the kitchen and found Harry standing by the oven, fully dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, making bacon and eggs.

As he heard Louis come into the room, Harry looked at him over his shoulder and gave him a wide grin.

“Hey there, sleepy head.” He said as Louis made his way over to him, standing behind him and leaning in to press a soft kiss to Harry’s lips. 

“Good morning.” Louis replied, ignoring the fact that it was well past what would be considered as “morning”. “How long have you been up?” 

Harry smiled and turned his head back to focus on the food he was making.

“A few hours. I went out for a run, then came back and took a shower before I came in here to make breakfast.” Harry explained. 

“You could have woken me up, you know.” Louis said, pressing a soft kiss to the back of Harry’s head where he could feel a slight bump, frowning to himself as he was once again reminded of how he had made Harry hit his head.

“I know. But you looked so peaceful that I couldn’t bring myself to do it.” Harry replied, smiling as he felt Louis’ arms come around his waist and another kiss was pressed to the back of his head.

“Mmm… How’s your head?” Louis asked, moving his lips to speak directly into Harry’s ear, the feel of Louis’ breath against his ear sending a shiver down Harry’s spine.

Harry had to bite his lip and take a deep breath to keep his body from reacting as Harry’s hands slowly made their way up his stomach towards his chest on the outside of his shirt. 

“Still throbbing.” Harry breathed, closing his eyes for a second and struggling to hold back a moan as Louis sucked his earlobe gently into his mouth. 

“I’m sorry…” Louis whispered around Harry’s earlobe, pushing his lips slightly forward and brushing the growing bulge in his boxers against Harry’s bum. “I’ll make it up to you…” He continued, giving a slight roll of his hips that made a gasp slip past Harry’s lips.

Keeping his body from reacting was difficult and Harry had to let a minute pass before he could bring himself to speak.

“You’ll make it up to me by going into the guest room and getting yourself dressed so we can go shopping after we’ve had breakfast.” Harry managed to utter, his voice surprisingly calm and collected despite how his body was trembling slightly.

He was not about to have the episode from last night repeat itself as he was afraid something would actually be set on fire this time if he let Louis distract him the way Harry had distracted him the night before. Besides, Louis was leaving in just a few days and Harry still hadn’t taken him to the massive mall downtown yet, which was where he was planning on taking him after breakfast.

Louis let Harry’s earlobe slip from between his lips and he pouted as he took a step back.

“You’re no fun.” He complained, but Harry could hear the slight smile in his voice before he heard Louis turn around and disappear out of the kitchen to go get dressed. 

When he heard the guest room door close behind Louis, Harry closed his eyes again and took a deep breath, allowing the throbbing at the back of his head to help him get his now hardening member go soft again, pretending like he couldn’t hear the unnecessary loud grunts and moans coming from the guest room as Louis made a point out of making Harry instantly regret what he had just turned down.

\-------------------------

The day at the mall went by quickly and though neither Harry nor Louis actually bought much, they had a blast just walking around together, holding hands and talking about all the ugly stuff they saw in the different stores and the occasional things they actually liked. 

Despite having had a good time, Harry was relieved when they got back to the apartment. His head had been throbbing all day and he was looking forward to not spending more time around massive crowds of people. 

Closing and locking the door behind them when they were inside, Harry suddenly found himself pressed gently back against the wall by the door in the hallway, Louis’ body pressed flush against his own. 

Harry raised a curious eyebrow as Louis searched his eyes for something unexplainable.

“You’ve been frowning all day. Is your head still hurting?” Louis asked, his hands on Harry’s waist. Harry considered lying, but seeing Louis had already noticed his painful frowns throughout the day, he saw no point in it. So he nodded his head.

“Yeah.” He confirmed.

Louis frowned at that and leaned in, pressing his lips against Harry’s. His tongue instantly found its way past Harry’s lips and into his mouth, and Harry failed to hold back a moan as Louis’ tongue twirled around his own. 

As they kissed, Louis worked his hands between their bodies and undid Harry’s pants.

“You know what’s the best cure for a headache?” Louis whispered against Harry’s lips as he pushed one hand down Harry’s pants, cupping Harry’s now hardening member through his boxers.

Harry let out a moan and pushed his hips forward and against Louis’ hand.

“Aspirins, water and sleep?” Harry breathed out as Louis gave his hardening cock a tight squeeze through the fabric of his boxers.

“No… An orgasm.” Louis smirked, letting go of Harry’s member in order to grab a hold of the waistband of Harry’s jeans and boxers, tugging both offending materials all the way down his legs in one swift movement.

Harry could do nothing but watch as Louis sunk down to his knees in front of him and as Louis turned his head up to meet Harry’s gaze as he reached up with a hand and wrapped it around the root of Harry’s still growing cock, Harry couldn’t help but groan in pleasure. 

His cock gave a happy twitch and Louis stroked him twice, which was all it took to make Harry grow fully hard. 

“God, you’re big.” Louis muttered, mainly to himself as he gave Harry’s cock an appreciative glance before leaning forward and closing his lips around the head of it.

The sudden warmth around the head of his cock made Harry’s eyes drift shut in pleasure as he tried to keep himself from forcing his cock deeper into Louis’ warm mouth. He waited patiently, enjoying the way Louis’ tongue twirled around the head of his erection and pushed down against the thin slit and very much enjoying the sound of Louis’ moan as he tasted the pre-cum leaking out.

When he felt Louis’ lips start to slide further down on his erection, taking more of him into his mouth, Harry opened his eyes again and looked down. Louis was staring up at him through his eyelashes, pupils dilated from lust and desire and the sight was enough to make Harry moan loudly and use most of his self-control to keep himself from thrusting into Louis’ mouth.

Instead, Harry reached down with both hands and fisted them in Louis’ hair, not to control, but merely to steady him as Louis slowly but surely took the entire length of Harry’s cock into his mouth. 

Feeling the head of his cock hit the back of Louis’ throat, Harry tightened his hands in Louis’ hair, his gaze never leaving Louis’ as Louis began bobbing his head; pulling back until only the head of Harry’s cock was still in his mouth, twirling his tongue around it to gather up the pre-cum before taking all of him back in, swallowing hard to create a clenching feeling around Harry’s cock. 

It didn’t take long for Louis to build up a steady rhythm, moaning and swallowing around the length of Harry’s cock, causing vibrations and clenching that Harry knew would soon enough send him into heavenly oblivion. 

Louis’ hands came up to grab a hold of Harry’s hips, pulling him forward and deeper into his mouth, silently urging Harry to move. 

Not about to protest to such a request, Harry kept his hold in Louis’ hair tight as he gently began thrusting his hips forward and driving his cock deeper into Louis’ mouth. He kept his movement slow and gentle, not wanting to make Louis gag, but the pace was just perfect combined with Louis’ moaning and swallowing, because suddenly Harry was coming with a loud cry of Louis’ name.

Louis pulled back until just the head of Harry’s cock was left in his mouth as Harry came, wanting to be able to taste Harry’s cum as he swallowed back every single drop, licking the head of Harry’s cock clean and moaning softly at the taste.

He allowed Harry to keep thrusting into his mouth until Harry had ridden out his orgasm and he came to a stop, his body slumping slightly back against the wall, his body trembling in the aftermath of his orgasm.

Louis gave his now softening member one final suck before letting it slip out of his mouth with a quiet ‘pop’ and getting back to his feet. Keeping his hands on Harry’s hips, Louis leaned forward, pushing his tongue straight into Harry’s mouth and kissing him deeply, allowing Harry to taste himself on Louis’ lips and tongue, making them both moan in pleasure into the kiss.

They only pulled apart when the need for air became too strong, and Louis leaned his forehead against Harry’s as Harry kept his hands fisted in Louis’ hair.

“Did it help?” Louis asked after a moment, looking into Harry’s green eyes and smiling as Harry gave a nod of his head.

“Yeah. I might just have to make you do that every time I have a headache from now on.” Harry replied with a soft chuckle present in his voice. 

“I might just hold you to that.” Louis grinned, running his hands gently up and down Harry’s sides.

“Good.” Harry said before bringing their lips together in another deep kiss, headache and memories of the incident the previous night completely forgotten.


	11. Chapter 11

"Tell me something.” 

Louis’ voice was barely louder than a whisper, but it was nevertheless enough to capture Harry’s attention and make him open his eyes to look down at Louis. Louis, however, wasn’t looking up at Harry from where he had the back of his head rested on Harry’s stomach. Louis’ gaze was fixed firmly on the ceiling of Harry’s bedroom.

“Tell you what?” Harry asked when Louis made no indication that he was about to say something else, threading his long fingers gently through Louis’ soft hair with one hand while having his other arm curled on the pillow behind his head, giving him some leverage and not making him have to strain his neck in order to be able to look down at Louis.

There was a moment of silence, Louis biting his lip and obviously debating with himself whether he should say what it was he wanted to say or not. Harry waited patiently and silently, not in any way being in a rush. 

“What happens now?” Louis finally said, his gaze not having moved an inch from where it was glued to the ceiling. The question made Harry raise an eyebrow in confusion.

“Well, I was planning on seducing you before we’d hopefully fall asleep together in this very bed afterwards?” Harry offered, a small smile playing across his lips and his words made Louis unable to fight back a slight smile of his own. It faded quickly, however, which made Harry slightly worried. 

“No, I mean… What happens now?” Louis said again, but this time he tore his gaze away from the ceiling and turned his head in order to be able to meet Harry’s eyes with his own. There was a certain hint of sadness in those blue eyes that stung in the pit of Harry’s stomach, even more so seeing he was uncertain of why the sadness was there in the first place.

“Lou, I’m a bit thick and you’re naked on my bed, so you’re going to have to be a bit clearer about what you’re talking about.” Harry said, tangling his fingers gently in the locks of Louis’ hair, his words encouraging another faint smile to make itself known on Louis’ lips before it again quickly faded. 

Louis took a deep breath, attempting to decide how he should put it before he opened his mouth to speak again.

“I’m going home tomorrow, Harry. We’ll be 161.7 kilometres apart and I just don’t know what’s going to happen. We’ll be restricted to texts, phone calls and video calls for God knows how long, and I just don’t know what’s going to happen or how this is going to go.” Louis began, and Harry was just about to reply when Louis continued speaking. 

“Being apart is difficult, Harry. Having spent every day together for the past 4 weeks, then suddenly not even being able to be within touching distance for God knows how long is a difficult and painful change. How are we going to make it work, Harry? What if you suddenly find someone else, someone who is better than I am and who lives in Holmes Chapel? What then? Am I going to be left heartbroken because you’re moving on and I can’t? Because let me tell you, I won’t find anyone else. I’ve never felt this way for anyone before you, and I know I won’t be able to just let you go. So what if you let me go? What if…”

Harry had to move his hand from Louis’ hair to put it over his mouth in order to shut him up, and when Louis blinked his eyes in slight surprise at Harry’s action, Harry couldn’t help but feel slightly amused. Louis always looked so adorably amusing when he got confused.

“Louis, if you really think I’m going to go off and find someone else when you leave when I’ve been on my own for so long before I met you, you seriously do think too little of me.” Harry began, watching as Louis dropped his gaze from Harry’s eyes to his chest. 

“I’m sorry…” Louis mumbled against the palm of Harry’s hand, but Harry shook his head.

"Can I please finish?"

Louis nodded his head, and Harry moved his hand away from his mouth to run it back through Louis’ hair.

“I’m in love with you, Louis. I’m absolutely head over heels in love with you and the fact that you’re going home isn’t going to change that. Yeah, being apart is going to be difficult, but we’ll get through it. I’ll drive to Doncaster to see you as often as I can, and you can drive back here to see me. We’re going to make it work, love. I promise you that. So please, stop with the ‘what-ifs’ and worst case scenarios, because we’re going to be just fine. You have absolutely no reason to worry.” Harry said reassuringly, a small smile present on his lips as he spoke. 

Harry’s words and the certainty Louis could see in his eyes was enough to calm him and he took in a deep breath, allowing himself to smile as well. 

“Do you promise?” He then asked, just needing the extra reassurance and it was a reassurance Harry was more than happy to give.

“I promise.” Harry smiled, twirling some of Louis’ hair around on his fingers. 

“Thank you.” Louis replied, shifting around on the bed until he was able to lean up and press a gentle kiss to Harry’s lips. “Now, what was that you said about seducing me?” 

Louis’ words made Harry’s smile widen into an outright grin as his arms came up to wrap around Louis’ body, effectively flipping them both over until Louis was lying flat on his back on the bed with Harry resting on top of him.

“I was kind of hoping that my speech about how we’re going to be just fine despite the distance would be enough to seduce you…” Harry smirked down at Louis, leaning down and pressing a gentle, teasing kiss to Louis’ neck. 

The gentle brush of Harry’s lips against his neck made Louis close his eyes as a soft chuckle escaped past his lips. 

“You think I’m that easy, do you?” Louis asked, making no attempt to hide the amusement in his voice as Harry began trailing soft kisses down the side of his neck while his hands moved with an almost featherlike touch up and down Louis’ sides.

Louis could feel the way Harry’s lips stretched into a smile against the skin of his neck and the light puff of air against his skin as Harry let out a quiet laugh sent a shiver down Louis’ spine. Harry didn’t respond immediately, however, and instead moved his hands all the way up to Louis’ chest until he was able to take Harry’s nipples between his thumbs and index fingers. He gave the nubs a gentle pinch, an action that effectively made Louis gasp before a quiet moan slipped past his lips. It was the reaction Harry had wanted as he could feel Louis’ cock twitch before it quickly started to grow where it was pressed against Harry’s thighs between their bodies.

“Your body isn’t exactly doing much to prove me wrong…” Harry said, his voice having dropped to being no louder than a soft whisper against the skin of Louis’ neck.

As he gave Louis’ nipples another pinch, he pushed his hips down against Louis’ at the same time and Harry wasn’t sure if the moan the action caused came from Louis or himself as his own member too began coming to life between their bodies. 

Louis had been planning on coming up with a clever comeback to Harry’s words, but quickly found himself incapable of forming a coherent thought in his mind, let alone being able to utter a coherent sentence, and decided it would be better for both of them if he just refrained from talking altogether. And so he did, and instead let his body do the talking for him.

Pushing his own hips slightly up off the mattress, Louis’ still growing erection brushed against Harry’s, causing the slightly younger man to groan and thrust his hips down against Louis’ as his mouth found that particularly sensitive spot right below Louis’ ear and latched onto it, sucking at the skin there until he could feel it bruise in his mouth.

It was a rather animalistic behaviour, marking someone else’s as his property, but it was one of the many traits about Harry that Louis found himself absolutely adoring, and he failed to hold back a loud moan at the feel of Harry’s lips and mouth effectively sucking a mark into his sensitive skin at the same time as Harry rolled his hips down against Louis’. In return, Louis continued to lift his hips off the mattress to meet Harry’s downwards movements and their synchronised rhythm caused a delicious rhythm that had Louis gasping and moaning for more while Harry panted and groaned into Louis’ neck.

“If you’re going to keep teasing me any longer, I’m going to hit you upside the head…” Louis breathed out in-between his moans and Harry chuckled deep in his throat at the desperate threat.

“You’re so lucky threats don’t turn me off.” Harry replied, pulling back from Louis’ neck and shifting until he was able to sit up, straddling Louis’ waist.

Leaning slightly to the side, Harry opened the drawer in his nightstand and pulled out a bottle of lube, bringing the bottle with him as he moved down Louis’ body until he was able to push Louis’ legs apart with his own knees and settled between them, popping the bottle of lube open. 

Harry lifted his gaze to look at Louis as he coated his fingers in the lubricant and the sight that met his nearly took his breath away.

Louis was watching him through half-lid eyes, mouth slightly open to allow heavy pants to slip past and tongue slipping out to lick at slightly dry lips. Louis’ cock was fully erected where it was poking Louis’ himself in the stomach. It was such a gorgeous sight that if it hadn’t been for the fact that Harry was fully hard already; he would have been by that sight alone.

“God, you look hot.” Harry breathed out, bringing the hand where his fingers were covered in lube down between Louis’ spread legs.

His statement made Louis’ eyes open slightly more and there was a sparkle of desire in Louis’ eyes that made Harry shiver. 

“Are you going to keep staring or are you actually going to prepare me so you can fuck me senseless?” 

The words were spoken only an octave louder than a whisper and another shiver shot through Harry’s body at that. Not needing any further instructions and not wanting to waste any more time, Harry’s index and middle fingers pushed their way past the tight ring of muscles at Louis’ entrance, stopping at the first knuckle to allow Louis to adjust to the intrusion.

Clenching his eyes shut, Louis breathed deeply in and out, attempting to make his body relax enough for the slight pain he felt at having Harry’s fingers inside of him make way for the pleasure he knew was to come. It didn’t take long before his muscles relaxed enough for Harry to feel it and he curled his fingers, the tips of them brushing against Louis’ prostate that made Louis’ entire body tremble in pleasure as a loud cry slipped past his lips. 

“Harry!” Louis cried.

His muscles clenched around Harry’s fingers and he pushed back against him, wanting more than Harry was currently giving him as Harry continued curling his fingers and brushing against that heavenly spot deep inside of Louis before scissoring his fingers to stretch Louis open.

It was all too much and not nearly enough all at the same time and Louis worried he might just descend into desperate oblivion if this went on much longer. 

“Harry… Harry, please, I need more… Please.” Louis begged, his voice sounding broken and desperate and not in any way dignified and Harry was unsure he had ever heard a sound more beautiful in his life.

Harry’s own erection was throbbing almost painfully by now and he was not in a position where he would be able to deny Louis his request. So he did as he was told and pulled his fingers out, causing a protesting whimper to erupt from Louis. 

Not about to keep Louis waiting for too long, however, Harry grabbed the bottle of lube again, squeezed a generous amount onto the palm of his hand and quickly coated his own aching member with it in a few slow stroke as to not push himself over the edge before he was even inside of Louis. 

Deciding he was prepared enough, Harry gripped the base of his own cock and shifted so he was leaning over Louis, his free hand rested on one side of Louis’ head while the other positioned Harry’s erection against Louis’ entrance.

“Please…” Louis pleaded, his blue eyes wide and desperate as he gazed up into Harry’s green one, and it was all Harry could do to not pound into right there and then.

Instead, he slowly began pushing his way into Louis, the gripping tightness quickly closing around the head of his cock making him gasp in pleasure.

“Holy fuck, Lou…” Harry moaned, letting go of his own member in order to be able to grab a tight hold of Louis’ hip to steady him as he slowly pushed himself all the way inside of Louis with a loud groan.

As his entire length was settled deep inside of Louis’ body, Louis clenching to make himself feel even tighter around him, Harry found it impossible to not start moving straight away. So that’s exactly what he did. 

Tightening his hold on Louis’ hip, Harry began thrusting into him at a quick, hard pace, his mouth stooping down to capture Louis’ lips in a hard, demanding kiss. Harry’s tongue forced its way into Louis’ mouth and Louis took what he was given gratefully, sucking hard at Harry’s tongue as he pushed his hips back against Harry’s to meet each of his forward thrusts. 

Reaching up behind Harry, Louis dug his short nails into the skin of Harry’s shoulder blades, making Harry growl and quicken and strengthen his thrusts, practically pounding into Louis as his fingers dug into the skin on Louis’ hip, deep enough that there would be finger-shaped bruises there in the morning. Louis didn’t mind, however, as he scraped his nails all the way down Harry’s spine, without a doubt leaving a trail of angry red marks on his way.

Harry pulled away from Louis’ lips then and dipped his head, sinking his teeth into the skin on Louis’ neck right on his Adam’s apple just as the head of his cock hit that special spot hidden deep inside of Louis that made the slightly older man shout Harry’s name in pleasure.

“Harry… Oh, fuck, Harry! Right there! Oh God!” Louis cried, lifting his legs and locking his ankles behind Harry’s back, forcing him even deeper inside of him and making him hit that spot with every thrust. 

Moaning in pleasure against Louis’ neck, Harry picked up the pace and strength of his thrusts even more and pounded into Louis so hard that the head of the bed began pounding back against the wall, the loud banging mixing in with the loud noises erupting from both their mouths as well as the sound of skin slapping against skin as they continued moving together.

As Harry thrust particularly hard, once again hitting Louis’ prostate spot-on, Louis was sent into heavenly oblivion as his orgasm washed over him at such a massive strength that his entire body began shaking and trembling.

“Harry!” Louis screamed as he came over both of their stomachs without even needing to be touched.

The sound of Louis’ screaming his name combined with the feel of Louis’ warm cum hitting his stomach and the feel of Louis clenching especially tight around him was enough to push Harry over the edge as well and he came with a loud cry, head pulling away from Louis’ neck just as he fully emptied himself deep inside of Louis, body shaking violently as a result of his powerful orgasm. 

Harry kept thrusting into Louis while Louis continued to push back against him until they had both ridden out their orgasms and Harry collapsed on top of Louis, gasping for air as he rested his head against Louis’ chest.

Louis allowed his legs to drop back down to the mattress as his arms wound themselves around Harry’s lower back, panting heavily for breath as his eyes drifted shut in the aftermath of his orgasm. 

“I need to keep my shirt on around my mates for a few weeks or I’ll never hear the end of those marks you’ve made on my back.” Harry chuckled when his body and breathing had somewhat returned to normal.

“You need to keep your shirt on around your mates permanently, because nobody is allowed to see what’s underneath it except for me.” Louis pointed out, trying to sound serious but there was the hint of a smile in his voice as he spoke and Harry chuckled again.

“A little possessive, are we?” Harry teased as he lifted his head from Louis’ chest in order to be able to look up at him. Louis merely grinned at him and moved one hand up from Harry’s back to gently brush it through Harry’s messy curls.

“Says the man who just left at least two marks on my neck.” He laughed before leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to Harry’s lips, one Harry was happy to return. 

When the kiss broke off, Harry rested his chin on Louis’ chest, allowing him to keep his gaze locked on him.

“I never said I wasn’t possessive as well.” Harry said, matter-of-factly, and he was rewarded with a soft chuckle from Louis that sent a happy thrill down his spine. 

“I love you. You know that, right?” Louis asked, a genuinely happy smile present on his lips as he spoke. Harry nodded his head and returned Louis’ smile with a smile of his own.

“I know. And I love you too.” He replied, before sealing his declaration of love with a kiss.

\----------------------

“That’s everything, then?” Harry asked as he closed the trunk of Louis’ car and turned his attention from the trunk of the car to look at Louis, who was standing next to the car door on the driver’s side with his arms folded across his chest.

“That’s everything.” Louis confirmed with a nod of his head.

“You haven’t forgotten anything?” Harry asked, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he approached Louis slowly.

“I don’t think so, no.” Louis replied, leaning slightly against his car as he watched Harry come up to him to stand in front of him. 

“You sure?” Harry asked again, raising a questioning eyebrow. “Nothing that would, oh, I don’t know, make you have to stay here for a little while longer?” He continued, the innocent smile that played across his lips being betrayed by the sadness that was so very obvious in Harry’s eyes. 

Louis was leaving. He was driving back home to Doncaster and Harry didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit. And neither did Louis. 

Louis allowed a soft chuckle to slip past his lips, despite the fact that there was nothing about the fact that he had to leave that he found to be amusing. 

“Not that I can think of.” He replied with a shake of his head, the sadness in Harry’s eyes reflecting the way Louis felt himself perfectly.

“Damn.” Harry said with an overdramatic sigh, again causing another soft chuckle to escape from Louis.

“Well, I guess you’ll have to leave, then.” Harry continued, leaning sideways against the car, mirroring Louis’ current position as they stood facing each other, silent pleas of “I don’t want to go’s” and “Please don’t fucking leave me” being exchanged between the two of them through their eyes. 

A moment of silence settled over them then; Harry not wanting to agree to what Louis had just said and Louis not wanting to say anything else that would actually make Harry leave. 

It was the most painful moment either man had ever faced before and it was a moment they could both do perfectly well without. It was a moment that was going to be the foundation of God knows how many long, painful days and lonely, heart-breaking nights of being apart. Neither man were anywhere near prepared for it.

“You know I’d stay here with you forever if I could.” Louis then said, unfolding his arms from across his chest and reaching up to push some of Harry’s curls that had fallen into his eyes behind his ear. Harry nodded his head.

“I know. But you can’t.” Harry regretfully pointed out, and the pain that was so clear in his voice made Louis drop his gaze to the pavement between their feet as another silence settled over them.

There were so many things Harry wanted to say in that moment. So many pleading words he wanted to use in an attempt to beg Louis to stay with him. Things such as: “ _Don’t go. I can’t be without you._ ” And: “ _You stole my heart in four weeks and now you’re just leaving. It’s not fair. You can’t do this to me._ ” But he knew that saying these things would only make things harder than they already were; not just for Louis, but for himself as well. And he couldn’t do that. Not to Harry. Not to either one of them. 

So instead, he said: “We’ll get through it.” And he even allowed himself to smile slightly as he pulled his hands out of his pockets and pushed himself away from the car. 

“We’ll get through this time apart and then it will all be worth it when we’re together again.” He said as he stepped even closer to Louis and reached up to frame Louis’ face in his hands, forcing Louis to look at him.

“We’ll get through it.” Harry said again, and he wasn’t sure whether he was trying to reassure Louis or himself more. Whoever it was, it worked, because the corners of Louis’ lips turned upwards into a small smile, which in turn made Harry feel more secure about what he had just said. 

“Promise?” Louis asked as he leaned slightly into Harry’s hands, and Harry couldn’t help but smile back at him. Louis; always needing the extra reassurance. Harry loved him for it.

“I promise.” Harry swore, sounding more confident than he had ever sounded before and Louis leaned in and pressed their lips together in a passionate, loving kiss. 

The kiss lasted until the need for air became too strong and they had to pull slightly apart to be able to draw some air down into their lungs. Harry rested his forehead against Louis’.

“I love you, Louis Tomlinson.” He said, his voice soft and quiet, but Louis heard him without a problem.

“I love you too, Harry Styles.” Louis replied, leaning in to again press their lips together, this time in a kiss that was soft and gentle, but loving nevertheless.

As they pulled apart again, Harry smiled and let his hands drop from Louis’ cheeks.

“Now get out of here before I grab a hold of you, carry you back inside and never let you leave.” He said, his voice carrying a teasing edge, but there was still a hint of truth in his statement. And Louis laughed, despite wishing Harry could do just that.

“Alright.” He agreed, managing to hide the reluctance he felt from his voice as he spoke and Harry took a step back from the car, allowing Louis to open the door.

“Call me when you get home, yeah?” Harry asked as he watched Louis get into the car and put on his seatbelt, the car door still open.

“I will.” Louis agreed, reaching out and grabbing a hold of Harry’s shirt, and pulling him down for one last kiss. Harry returned the kiss without protest and he couldn’t help but smile when Louis let go of his shirt and allowed him to pull back.

“Drive safely.” Harry said, and Louis nodded his head before Harry closed the car door for him and again took a step back. 

The sound of Louis starting the motor of the car was a sound Harry was convinced was going to haunt him every night until he got to see Louis again, and it took all he had to hold back the tears that were threatening to form in his eyes as he watched Louis back out of the parking lot. 

Louis himself were fighting back tears of his own, and he surprised himself when he was able to put on one last smile for Harry as he waved through the window of his car, slightly relieved when Harry waved back and returned Louis’ smile with one of his own. Then he decided that if he didn’t leave right now, he never would and finally put his foot on the gas and drove off, leaving Harry staring after him until the car was well out of sight and earshot. 

Taking a deep breath, Harry finally allowed a few tears to slip from his eyes and roll down his cheeks as he turned around and headed back towards the door leading into his apartment complex. But as he opened the door, he allowed himself to smile because he knew, he just knew, that he and Louis were going to be okay. 

And in his car, just turning out onto the motorway, Louis was smiling as well; entirely convinced that everything was going to be just fine for him and Harry. 

After all, they had everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose.


	12. Epilogue

"Louis, have you seen my beanie?" 

“Which one?” 

“The white one!”

“Oh, that one… I kind of… Threw it out.”

Harry stopped searching through the drawer he had been practically tearing apart in search of his beanie when Louis’ words registered in his brain, and he took two steps back to be able to peak his head out of the open bedroom door. 

His eyes caught Louis quickly where he was seated at top of the stairs, his hand gently running through the soft, fluffy, pure white fur of one of their two newly adopted kittens. The kitten’s blue eyes drifted shut and Harry could hear him purr even from this distance as he curled up on Louis’ lap. The sight was so endearing that he momentarily forgot what Louis had said just seconds ago, however Harry was not one to forget for long.

“You threw out my beanie?” He asked, his eyes wide in confusion as to why Louis would do such a thing. 

Louis’ blue eyes met Harry’s green ones, innocence written all over his face and it was so transparent that Harry rolled his eyes.

“Well… Yeah?” Louis sounded questioning, his hand still stroking the fur of their four months old kitten that still lay curled up in Louis’ lap. 

“But that was my favourite beanie!” Harry complained, giving a dramatic sigh which made Louis roll his eyes.

“Harry, it was an ugly beanie with countless of holes in it. You wouldn’t have been able to wear it anymore!” Louis argued, and Harry stubbornly folded his arms across his chest.

“That still didn’t give you the right to throw it out…” Harry mumbled, pouting his lips and keeping his arms folded across his chest like a stubborn child. Louis rolled his eyes again and gently picked up the kitten to put him down on the floor before standing up and walking over to where Harry was still standing in the doorway into the bedroom.

“Really? I thought living with you gave me the right to throw out clothes that are no longer usable.” Louis pointed out.

The pair of them had moved in together in a lovely little house in Doncaster almost 6 months ago now after they had both decided that having a long distance relationship had gone on long enough after more than a year of travelling back and forth, and Harry had been the one to offer to move to Doncaster with Louis. Louis, of course, had said yes in a heartbeat. 

And so they had bought their white, two-story house with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, living room and a small study that they were planning on turning into a music room on a lovely street where Liam also lived with his newly-announced fiancé Danielle, whom Louis had remembered to introduce Liam to and he had been right: They were perfect for each other and it hadn’t taken long before Danielle had moved to Doncaster to be with Liam. 

Zayn and Niall lived just about 10 minutes of walking in a neighbouring street, and Harry had gotten along great with all three of them from the moment he had first come to visit Louis here. They were all like a little family now, with Harry and Louis having added two new members to their household just a little over a week ago with two kittens.

The white kitten that had been curled up in Louis’ lap came running over to them and began climbing up Harry’s pants leg, always careful as to not dig his tiny little claws into Harry’s skin as he made his way up. Harry was unable to keep himself from smiling despite his irritation at Louis having thrown out his favourite beanie and reached down to pick the kitten up from where he was clinging to Harry’s pants at the top of his thigh.

“You could have at least asked me first.” Harry pouted again, holding the kitten to his chest. “Right, Suárez? He could have at least asked before throwing out my favourite beanie.” Harry continued, directing the question at the kitten in his arms, whom he had insisted on naming Suárez despite Louis’ protests.

Louis rolled his eyes as he watched the pair of them, and Suárez purred and nuzzled his nose against the crook of Harry’s neck. 

“He agrees.” Harry continued to pout, blinking his eyes as if they were about to tear up as he gazed at Louis. Louis couldn’t help but give a defeated sigh at that.

“Fine, I could have asked and I’m sorry I didn’t. Forgive me?” 

It was Louis’ turn to pout now as he spoke, and Harry grinned as he leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to Louis’ pouting lips. 

“I forgive you. But if you do something like that again, you’re sleeping on the couch.” Harry threatened, and Louis let a soft chuckle escape past his lips.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Louis agreed.

There was a tugging at Louis’ pants leg then, and he looked down to see their other kitten, a black, fluffy little thing with bright green eyes staring up at them and giving a quiet meow, demanding attention. 

Louis leaned down with a smile and picked the kitten up, holding him to his chest and looking at Harry. 

“I think Loki might be a little jealous of Suárez for getting all the attention.” Louis said, smiling as Loki the kitten, whom Harry had also named, curled up like a ball against his chest and began purring, but kept his green eyes fixed on Harry with an almost accusing expression.

Harry gave a soft laugh and leaned forward and slightly down, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Loki’s head, much to Loki’s happiness as he began purring louder. 

“Don’t be silly. Loki knows I love him and Suárez equally.” Harry said, watching with an amused smile as Suárez leaned his little head forward and nudged his nose against Loki’s, who purred impossibly louder in return. 

“Mhm, you better mean that.” Louis warned with a teasing edge to his tone. 

Harry lifted his head again at that and smiled.

“But you know who I love the most in the whole world?” He asked, dropping his voice to a soft whisper as if trying to make sure their kittens didn’t hear him. 

Louis blinked his eyes innocently, shaking his head and allowing his own voice to drop to a whisper.

“No… Who?” He asked.

Harry leaned slightly down again until his lips were brushing against Louis’ as he whispered, a smile playing on his lips.

“You.” He replied before pressing his lips to Louis’ in a loving kiss. Louis returned it happily, letting out a soft, pleased sigh against Harry’s lips before the slightly younger man pulled back.

“I love you too.” Louis said then, using the hand that was not holding Loki to reach up and gently brush it through Harry’s dark curls.

“Promise?” Harry asked, the smile still playing across his lips as he spoke. Louis grinned back at him and nodded his head.

“Promise.” He said, standing on the tips of his toes in order to be able to lean up and press a kiss to Harry’s lips. 

And it was in that moment they realised that they had finally gotten everything they had ever wanted with each other and with their little family. There was a sense of belonging, a sense of finally being complete that settled over them both and it was only then that they finally had something, everything, to lose. But it was all worth fighting for.


End file.
